New drugs for Alzheimer’s are finally coming onto the market after decades of failed attempts to slow its devastating progression. But startup Cognito Therapeutics is taking a drug-free approach to treating the memory-robbing disease. The Cambridge, Massachusetts–based company is developing a headset to combat cognitive decline.
In results from a Phase II trial published March 6 in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, the company showed that its novel treatment is safe and reported early hints that it may also have benefits for Alzheimer’s patients.
Cognito’s headset, dubbed Spectris, delivers flashing lights and sounds through a pair of connected glasses and headphones to stimulate gamma waves in the brain. Different types of brain waves have different paces, or frequencies. Gamma waves are fast-frequency brain waves associated with thinking skills and memory, and people with Alzheimer’s are known to have fewer of these fast brain waves.
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Brain waves are the result of thousands of neurons making connections and communicating through electric signals. In Alzheimer’s, connections among these networks break down. Cognito thinks its device could slow the cognitive decline that comes with the disease by strengthening and synchronizing these connections.
