Posted: 25 September 2023
The Bionics Institute’s Professor Kate Hoy has published a pioneering new research paper showing changes in brain activity and cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease patients following six weeks of a patterned form of magnetic brain stimulation therapy.
This non-invasive stimulation therapy, called intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), significantly improved brain connectivity and episodic memory in study participants with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.
The research team found that the strength of patient’s brain connectivity, both before and after treatment, predicted improvement in episodic memory.
“This is the first trial to provide iTBS to multiple brain regions in Alzheimer’s disease,” Professor Hoy said.
“We were able to show that our iTBS treatment successfully improved a specific type of brain activity that is closely associated with cognitive functioning, and that this was linked with improvement in memory.”
“We’re pleased to be able to share these findings, which have led us to continue our research into the potential of brain stimulation to help fight memory loss in Alzheimer’s.”
