Ultrasound could be a non-invasive treatment for Alzheimer's

Ultrasound can overcome some of the detrimental effects of ageing and dementia without the need to cross the blood–brain barrier, researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have found.

Professor Jürgen Götz, from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), led a multidisciplinary team who showed low-intensity ultrasound effectively restored cognition without opening the barrier in mice models. The team’s findings, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, provide a potential new avenue for the non-invasive technology and will help clinicians tailor medical treatments that consider an individual’s disease progression and cognitive decline.

“Historically, we have been using ultrasound together with small gas-filled bubbles to open the almost-impenetrable blood–brain barrier and get therapeutics from the bloodstream into the brain,” Prof Götz said. The new research involved a designated control group who received ultrasound without the barrier-opening microbubbles — and the entire research team was surprised by what Prof Götz described as a “remarkable restoration in cognition”.

“We conclude therapeutic ultrasound is a non-invasive way to enhance cognition in the elderly,” he said.

Ageing is associated with impaired cognition and a reduction in the learning induced plasticity of the signalling between neurons called long-term potentiation (LTP). Dr Daniel Blackmore, senior postdoctoral researcher on the team, said the new research aims to use ultrasound to restore LTP and improved spatial learning in aged mice.

“Using ultrasound could enhance cognition independently of clearing amyloid and tau, which form plaques and tangles in people with Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.

“Microbubbles will continue to be used in combination with ultrasound in ongoing Alzheimer’s research.”

Previous research has shown the long-term safety of ultrasound technology and that pathological changes and cognitive deficits could be improved by using ultrasound to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Prof Götz did acknowledge, however, that there are still questions about the differences between normal physiological ageing and the pathological ageing that happens in Alzheimer’s disease.

“We believe there may be some overlap between physiological and pathological ageing in the brain, and the potential for this to be corrected with ultrasound is meaningful for those living with Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.

“We are taking these findings and implementing them in our Alzheimer’s research as we go forward to clinical trials.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/decade3d

Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletters and bimonthly magazine.