{"id":212492,"date":"2025-04-26T17:15:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T22:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/in-down-syndrome-mice-40hz-light-and-sound-improve-cognition-neurogenesis-and-connectivity"},"modified":"2025-04-26T17:15:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T22:15:29","slug":"in-down-syndrome-mice-40hz-light-and-sound-improve-cognition-neurogenesis-and-connectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/in-down-syndrome-mice-40hz-light-and-sound-improve-cognition-neurogenesis-and-connectivity","title":{"rendered":"In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis and connectivity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/in-down-syndrome-mice-40hz-light-and-sound-improve-cognition-neurogenesis-and-connectivity2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Studies by a growing number of labs have identified neurological health benefits from exposing human volunteers or animal models to light, sound and\/or tactile stimulation at the brain\u2019s \u201cgamma\u201d frequency rhythm of 40Hz. In the latest such research at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Alana Down Syndrome Center at MIT, scientists found that 40Hz sensory stimulation improved cognition and circuit connectivity and encouraged the growth of new neurons in mice genetically engineered to model Down syndrome.<\/p>\n<p>Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor at MIT and senior author of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0317428\" target=\"_blank\">new study<\/a> in <i>PLOS ONE<\/i>, said that the results are encouraging but also cautioned that much more work is needed to test whether the method, called GENUS (for Gamma Entrainment Using Sensory Stimulation), could provide clinical benefits for people with Down syndrome. Her lab has begun a <a href=\"https:\/\/picower.mit.edu\/node\/1245\" target=\"_blank\">small study<\/a> with human volunteers at MIT.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile this work, for the first time, shows the beneficial effects of GENUS on Down syndrome using an imperfect mouse model, we need to be cautious as there is not yet data showing whether this also works in humans,\u201d said Tsai, who directs The Picower Institute and The Alana Center, and is a member of MIT\u2019s Brain and Cognitive Sciences faculty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Studies by a growing number of labs have identified neurological health benefits from exposing human volunteers or animal models to light, sound and\/or tactile stimulation at the brain\u2019s \u201cgamma\u201d frequency rhythm of 40Hz. In the latest such research at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Alana Down Syndrome Center at MIT, scientists found [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,412,1495,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-genetics","category-health","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}