Patients undergoing chemotherapy often encounter cognitive challenges such as memory lapses and difficulty focusing, commonly referred to as “chemo brain”.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a potential solution: a noninvasive treatment that stimulates gamma frequency brain waves. In their study involving mice, they found that daily exposure to light and sound waves at a frequency of 40 hertz shielded brain cells from chemotherapy-induced damage. This intervention not only prevented memory loss but also mitigated other cognitive impairments. Originally designed to address Alzheimer’s disease, this treatment exhibits broad-reaching effects that could benefit various neurological disorders, according to the researchers.
Li-Huei Tsai, director of MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Picower Professor in the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, explains, “The treatment can reduce DNA damage, alleviate inflammation, and boost the production of oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for myelin formation around axons. Additionally, we observed improvements in learning, memory, and executive function in the treated animals.” Tsai, along with lead author TaeHyun Kim, an MIT postdoc, published their findings in Science Translational Medicine.
Several years ago, Tsai and her team initiated investigations into using 40 hertz light flickering as a means to ameliorate cognitive symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease. They observed that Alzheimer’s patients often have impaired gamma oscillations, crucial for functions such as attention and memory. Their previous studies in mice demonstrated that exposure to 40 hertz light or sound can stimulate these gamma waves, offering protective effects, including hindering the formation of amyloid beta plaques. Combining light and sound further amplifies these benefits. Encouragingly, phase 1 clinical trials in individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s have shown safety and neurological improvements with this treatment.
Expanding their research, the team investigated whether this approach could counteract the cognitive repercussions of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs can induce brain inflammation and damage white matter, affecting communication between brain regions. Moreover, they promote myelin loss, akin to effects observed in Alzheimer’s patients. Tsai remarks, “Chemo brain is a common occurrence, and there’s extensive research on post-chemotherapy brain changes. Given our previous findings on gamma sensory stimulation’s anti-inflammatory effects, we decided to explore its potential in chemo brain.”
Using mice treated with cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug, as their experimental model, the researchers found that mice receiving gamma therapy alongside chemotherapy exhibited significant reductions in brain volume shrinkage, DNA damage, demyelination, and inflammation compared to those receiving chemotherapy alone. The therapy also improved cognitive function in behavioral tests.
Analyzing gene expression changes, the researchers found suppression of inflammation-related genes and genes triggering cell death, particularly in oligodendrocytes, responsible for myelin production, in mice receiving gamma therapy. Effects persisted up to four months post-treatment initiation but were less pronounced if treatment commenced three months post-chemotherapy.
The researchers also observed promising results with methotrexate, another chemotherapy drug, indicating the treatment’s potential across various demyelinating conditions, not limited to chemotherapy-induced damage.
Given its broad effects, Tsai’s lab is exploring gamma therapy in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Cognito Therapeutics, co-founded by Tsai and MIT Professor Edward Boyden, has concluded a phase 2 trial in Alzheimer’s patients and plans a phase 3 trial this year. Tsai concludes, “While our primary focus is Alzheimer’s, we aim to explore this approach for other indications as well.”
Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- : public
