Researchers at UC Berkeley, DTU, and OptoCeutics in Denmark have created a non-medical light-based technology that improved cognitive function for Alzheimer’s patients who have participated in previous clinical trials.

The new technology activates brain waves that benefit mild or moderate Alzheimer’s patients with respect to memory and speech; it must be developed so that it is compatible to ordinary lamps.

Studies involving additional participants are being scheduled to confirm these findings. Professor Paul Petersen of DTU, one of the inventors, explained that the initial idea originated at MIT.

One decade earlier, researchers found that when they exposed mice with Alzheimer’s to blinking lights gamma brain waves were activated and plaque was reduced. The plaque is created by beta-amyloid proteins located in the brain and it affects nerve cells that have a negative inflammatory impact on brain tissue.

Blinking lights, however, may cause discomfort as well as epileptic seizures. These negative issues prompted the researchers to search for technology that has a similar effect but would not cause discomfort.

Prof. Petersen developed the concept of creating a device with the same effect, but the users would not be aware that the light was blinking. The new device was initially tested on individuals who were healthy followed by trials called double-blind clinical trials. People with mild or moderate Alzheimer’s disease spent thirty minutes each day for periods of six or twelve weeks using either one of the new devices or a placebo lamp.

In a double-blind trial, neither the doctors nor the patients are aware of the treatment the patient is receiving.

Denmark’s Role

Dementia is Denmark’s fourth highest cause of death, with Alzheimer’s disease the most common type of dementia. Yet there are only a few drugs that treat the disease, and these drugs can only give temporary relief. The dementia research center in Denmark estimates that there are about 25,000 people in the country living with Alzheimer’s disease.

The cause of the disease remains unknown.