{"622140":{"#nid":"622140","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Using Brain Wave Stimulation to Treat Alzheimer\u2019s","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have demonstrated that by exposing mice to a unique combination of light and sound, they can improve cognitive and memory impairments similar to those seen in Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe noninvasive treatment, which induces brain waves known as gamma oscillations, also greatly reduced the number of amyloid plaques found in the brains of these mice \u0026ndash; in Alzheimer patients, abnormal levels of amyloid (a naturally occurring protein) form plaques that gather between neurons and disrupt cell function.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers published their work, entitled \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cell.com\/cell\/fulltext\/S0092-8674(19)30163-1\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Multi-sensory Gamma Stimulation Ameliorates Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s-Associated Pathology and Improves Cognition,\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E earlier this spring in the journal \u003Cem\u003ECell\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This research builds on our prior work by introducing multi-modal stimulation \u0026ndash; light and sound pulses together, as opposed to light alone \u0026ndash; which is able to affect neural activity in the memory centers of the brain,\u0026rdquo; said Abigail Paulson, co-lead author of the paper, and a graduate student in the lab of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/singer.gatech.edu\/lab\/\u0022\u003EAnnabelle Singer\u003C\/a\u003E, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech, and assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is really interesting to us as these brain regions are some of the first to be affected in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease,\u0026rdquo; added Paulson.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe other lead author was Anthony Martorell, a graduate student in the lab of Li-Huei Tsai, director of MIT\u0026rsquo;s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the senior author of the study. Singer, a co-author of the study who is developing a non-invasive means to drive precision neural activity while drafting the brain\u0026rsquo;s immune system to treat disease, was awarded an R01 grant ($2 million over five years) from the NIH last year to support further efforts in this arena.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Traditionally, stimulation methods have been invasive or they usually don\u0026rsquo;t reach deep brain structures,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s been some work in this area, but there aren\u0026rsquo;t many options \u0026ndash; for one thing, they\u0026rsquo;re not very fast, they don\u0026rsquo;t have millisecond precision.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis latest research with her former colleagues at MIT (where Singer was a postdoctoral researcher) proves, in mice, that the noninvasive treatment works not only in the visual cortex (as an earlier study demonstrated), \u0026ldquo;but also in hippocampus, in the brain\u0026rsquo;s memory centers,\u0026rdquo; said Singer, who believes the novel approach will spur new therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s and other neurological diseases, \u0026ldquo;and galvanize new basic science research with wide-ranging impact.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, Paulson said, \u0026ldquo;we are planning to investigate how this sensory stimulation affects neural activity during behavior and memory processes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFurther study will be needed to determine if the treatment will work in human patients. Along those lines, Singer\u0026rsquo;s lab is collaborating with Emory physician researchers Jim Lah (who directs Emory\u0026rsquo;s Cognitive Neurology Program) and Allan Levey (director of the Emory Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s Disease Research Center).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and MIT researchers develop noninvasive treatment to improve memory and reduce amyloid plaques in mice"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and MIT researchers develop noninvasive treatment to improve memory and reduce amyloid plaques in mice\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and MIT researchers develop noninvasive treatment to improve memory and reduce amyloid plaques in mice"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2019-06-01 13:54:57","changed_gmt":"2019-06-01 13:54:57","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"622139":{"id":"622139","type":"image","title":"Abigail Paulson","body":null,"created":"1559396930","gmt_created":"2019-06-01 13:48:50","changed":"1559396930","gmt_changed":"2019-06-01 13:48:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"236981","name":"ALP.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ALP.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ALP.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1055289,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ALP.jpeg?itok=cCOgdG24"}},"597407":{"id":"597407","type":"image","title":"Annabelle Singer","body":null,"created":"1508155250","gmt_created":"2017-10-16 12:00:50","changed":"1508155250","gmt_changed":"2017-10-16 12:00:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"227719","name":"Annabelle_Singer.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Annabelle_Singer.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Annabelle_Singer.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2098126,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Annabelle_Singer.jpg?itok=qrVTCINo"}}},"media_ids":["622139","597407"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"181421","name":"Annabelle Singer"},{"id":"181422","name":"Alzheimer\u0027s research"},{"id":"30791","name":"gamma ray"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}