Safety, Feasibility, and Potential Clinical Efficacy of 40 Hz Invisible Spectral Flicker versus Placebo in Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blinded, Pilot Study
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Background: Recent studies suggested induction of 40 Hz neural activity as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, prolonged exposure to flickering light raises adherence and safety concerns, encouraging investigation of tolerable light stimulation protocols. Objective: To investigate the safety, feasibility, and exploratory measures of efficacy. Methods: This two-stage randomized placebo-controlled double-blinded clinical trial, recruited first cognitive healthy participants (n = 3/2 active/placebo), and subsequently patients with mild-to-moderate AD (n = 5/6, active/placebo). Participants were randomized 1:1 to receive either active intervention with 40 Hz Invisible Spectral Flicker (ISF) or placebo intervention with color and intensity matched non-flickering white light. Results: Few and mild adverse events were observed. Adherence was above 86.1% of intended treatment days, with participants remaining in front of the device for >51.3 min (60 max) and directed gaze >34.9 min. Secondary outcomes of cognition indicate a tendency towards improvement in the active group compared to placebo (mean: -2.6/1.5, SD: 6.58/6.53, active/placebo) at week 6. Changes in hippocampal and ventricular volume also showed no tendency of improvement in the active group at week 6 compared to placebo. At week 12, a potential delayed effect of the intervention was seen on the volume of the hippocampus in the active group compared to placebo (mean: 0.34/-2.03, SD: 3.26/1.18, active/placebo), and the ventricular volume active group (mean: -0.36/2.50, SD: 1.89/2.05, active/placebo), compared to placebo. Conclusion: Treatment with 40 Hz ISF offers no significant safety or adherence concerns. Potential impact on secondary outcomes must be tested in larger scale clinical trials.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Alzheimer's Disease |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 2 |
Pages (from-to) | 653-665 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISSN | 1387-2877 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
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© 2023 - IOS Press. All rights reserved.
- 40 Hz, Alzheimer's disease, gamma entrainment, invisible spectral flicker, light-based neurostimulation
Research areas
ID: 369082805