What we are studying

Gamma frequency light and sound stimulation has been shown to slow down brain atrophy and memory decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease. This study will look at how our device, GENUS (Gamma ENtrainment Using Sensory stimuli), can potentially prevent Alzheimer’s dementia in individuals who might be at risk for developing this disease. 

Why it is important

Alzheimer’s disease is currently the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and the most common cause of dementia among older adults. Our work shows that our device, GENUS, is well tolerated and can slow down progression of disease in patients with mild AD. Since our device is safe and so easy to use, we want to know if we can prevent AD in people who are currently cognitively healthy but are at risk for developing dementia in the future. 

What we hope to accomplish

We are conducting this study to see if we can prevent progression to dementia in people who are currently cognitively healthy but are at risk for developing dementia. People who are at risk for dementia are people who may have amyloid deposited in the brain already - we will first screen for these study participants with a blood test and, if appropriate, an amyloid PET scan to determine if they have amyloid deposited in the brain.  

Over a 1 year period, we will ask eligible study participants to use our GENUS light and sound device at home daily for 1 hour everyday. Study visits will include blood tests, scans of the brain to look for amyloid and tau proteins, MRI pictures of the brain, EEG (to record brain rhythms), cognitive assessments, and sleep assessments (via fitbit type watches).