Memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia could soon be treated without drugs by non-surgical electrical stimulation of the brain, new research suggests. A successful study in healthy young adults confirmed that the technique can improve memory, and researchers have now begun testing it in people with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
This painless and noninvasive treatment called “temporal interference” uses electric fields of multiple frequencies to stimulate neurons in the hippocampus, a deep brain region involved in the formation, storage and recall of memories.
“With the new technique we have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to remotely stimulate specific regions deep in the human brain without the need for surgery,” said neuroscientist Nir Grossman from Imperial College London (ICL), in – an ICL press release.
The new technique opens up an entirely new avenue of treatment for brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which affect the deep structures of the brain. Human neurons communicate using electrical signals. Among its complex processes, Alzheimer’s disease affects this communication between neurons in the hippocampus, embedded deep in the temporal lobe of the brain.
Deep brain stimulation is one way to correct these imbalances in electrical activity and could potentially treat brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s. A kind of pacemaker for the brain, implanted electrodes can monitor activity and deliver small electrical currents to regions of dysfunction.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder and movement disorders, manifested in Parkinson’s disease, are already treated with deep brain stimulation, but the surgical procedure of implanting the electrodes is risky, making it difficult to research its usefulness in other brain conditions.
In the case of temporal interference, high-frequency electric fields are sent to the brain by means of electrodes fixed on the outside of the scalp. Two electric fields, one at 2,000 Hz and the other at 2,005 Hz, are directed to overlap (interfere) in the temporal lobe, creating a low-frequency differential current at 5 Hz. This current is in the same frequency range as neural activity in learning and memory. Low-frequency electric fields of 5 Hz act in the hippocampus, facilitating the coordination by cells of the activities necessary to create memories.
Participants aged between 50 and 100, with mild cognitive impairment and probably in the early, non-genetic stages of Alzheimer’s disease, were enrolled in the new study, according to news.ro
Scientists hope that by using a 5 Hz current they can revive diseased neurons in the hippocampus. They hope it will repair Alzheimer’s damage to the area’s mitochondria – the cells’ energy generators.
“Knowledge of these processes and how they can be modified is essential to develop better individualized strategies to treat or delay the onset of these diseases,” says Violante. The team hopes that the new study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, will help expand the availability of deep brain stimulation therapies by drastically reducing costs and risks.
2023-10-25 16:52:43
#Dementia #Alzheimers #treated #noninvasive #electrical #brain #stimulation
