MIT researchers have discovered a noninvasive method that may offer new hope for individuals suffering from “chemo brain,” a condition marked by cognitive challenges such as memory loss and concentration difficulties, commonly experienced by patients undergoing chemotherapy.
The innovative treatment, which involves stimulating the brain with light and sound waves at a frequency of 40 hertz, has shown promising results in protecting brain cells and improving cognitive functions in mice.
Originally developed for Alzheimer’s disease, this therapy aims to enhance gamma frequency brain waves, known for their role in attention, perception, and memory.
The team’s earlier work demonstrated that 40-hertz flickering light and sound can boost gamma waves, leading to protective benefits like the reduction of amyloid beta plaques in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
In their recent study, published in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers explored the potential of this gamma frequency therapy to mitigate the effects of chemotherapy on the brain.
Chemotherapy is known to cause inflammation, loss of white matter, and demyelination, similar to what is observed in Alzheimer’s disease.
By exposing mice treated with cisplatin, a common chemotherapy drug, to daily sessions of 40-hertz light and sound, the team observed significant reductions in brain volume shrinkage, DNA damage, demyelination, and inflammation.
Furthermore, the treated mice performed better in tests measuring memory and executive function.
The beneficial effects of the gamma therapy were evident at the cellular level, with gene expression analyses revealing suppressed inflammation and cell death genes, particularly in oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for myelin production.
Remarkably, these positive outcomes persisted for up to four months after treatment, although starting the therapy three months post-chemotherapy was notably less effective.
The researchers also confirmed the therapy’s efficacy in mice treated with methotrexate, another chemotherapy drug, suggesting the treatment’s broad applicability across different types of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments.
Given its potential, the MIT team, led by Li-Huei Tsai, director of MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, is now exploring the use of gamma frequency therapy in mouse models of other neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Cognito Therapeutics, co-founded by Tsai, is advancing clinical trials for Alzheimer’s patients, with a Phase III trial planned for this year.
This breakthrough points to a fundamental mechanism by which gamma frequency therapy can enhance myelination and promote the integrity of oligodendrocytes, offering a promising avenue for treating not only chemo brain but potentially other neurological diseases as well.
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The research findings can be found in Science Translational Medicine.
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