The Effect of 40-Hz Light Therapy on Amyloid Load in Patients with Prodromal and Clinical Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. AD pathology is characterized by abnormal aggregation of the proteins amyloid-<i>β</i> (A<i>β</i>) and hyperphosphorylated tau. No effective disease modifying therapies are currently available. A short-duration intervention with 40 Hz light flicker has been shown to reduce brain A<i>β</i> load in transgenic mice. We aimed to test the effect of a similar short-duration 40 Hz light flicker regime in human AD patients. We utilized a Light Emitting Diode (LED) light bulb with a 40 Hz flicker. Six A<i>β</i> positive patients received 10 days of light therapy, had 2 hours of daily exposure, and underwent a postintervention PiB PET on day 11. After 10 days of light therapy, no significant decrease of PiB SUVR values was detected in any volumes of interest tested (primary visual cortex, visual association cortex, lateral parietal cortex, precuneus, and posterior cingulate) or in the total motor cortex, and longer treatments may be necessary to induce amyloid removal in humans.