Alzheimer's scientists say brain stimulating device could slow memory loss

Alzheimer's disease researchers found that when they aimed a TMS device at the right spot in the brain, it could slow the progression of memory loss.

The only approved treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are medications with limited effectiveness and a risk of severe, sometimes deadly, side effects. That’s why scientists search for therapies that could stop the disease, especially ones that don’t involve drugs.

One experimental therapy may slow the progression of symptoms, a small preliminary study suggests. Using a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device, which is widely used to treat depression and other mental illnesses safely, researchers were able to target a key brain network that is involved in storing memories and is typically hit hard by the disease, according to the report presented Thursday at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease meeting in Madrid. 

Researchers found that when the device was aimed at the right spot in the brain, it could slow the development of symptoms, such as memory loss, compared to an inactive treatment. 

In Alzheimer’s, nerve cells in the brain at some point start to dysfunction, leading to the debilitating symptoms of memory loss. Previous research has indicated that the accumulation of two aberrant proteins, beta-amyloid and tau, damage the ability of neurons to form new connections and to maintain existing ones, said Dr. Giacomo Koch, a professor of human physiology at the University of Ferrara and one of the co-founders of Sinaptica, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company currently developing the therapy.

“The goal is to restore connections between neurons by enhancing activity in certain areas relevant to the disease,” Koch said in a Zoom interview with NBC News. “This therapy is like training for the neurons.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/aging/alzheimers-symptoms-brain-therapy-tms-rcna178117

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