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Is there speculation on what this would do to a healthy brain?
Probably more harm than good- you probably don’t want ultrasonic waves shaking your neurons around without a good reason. This sounds like a “kick a TV and it works again” sort of technology.
Alzheimer is weird in that plenty of treatment works in mice but fails in humans. I suspect it's primarily because we do not fully understand the cause of Alzheimer.
Conversely it would be shocking if most things that work on mice worked in the same ways on humans.
Specifically for “slowing” it seems entirely plausible that breaking up the plaques will allow misfolded proteins to migrate (due to reduced size).
Ignoring entirely the there have been multiple drugs that successfully reduced amyloid build up, with no actual benefit. Eg they did exactly what they were designed for to no avail.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conversely it would be shocking if most things that work on mice worked in the same ways on humans.
what are you thinking of specifically? I mean genetically and functionally we are incredibly similar as mammals. Most poisons/etc. work the same for example.
Is there speculation on what this would do to a healthy brain?
Probably more harm than good- you probably don’t want ultrasonic waves shaking your neurons around without a good reason. This sounds like a “kick a TV and it works again” sort of technology.
Ok so the article says this successfully destroys the amyloid plaques, but does it help cognition or slow the disease? Specifically for “slowing” it seems entirely plausible that breaking up the plaques will allow misfolded proteins to migrate (due to reduced size). Ignoring entirely the there have been multiple drugs that successfully reduced amyloid build up, with no actual benefit. Eg they did exactly what they we…
Alzheimer is weird in that plenty of treatment works in mice but fails in humans. I suspect it's primarily because we do not fully understand the cause of Alzheimer.
This is because our mouse models of Alzheimer disease are terrible. And pretty much everything we've tried has been aimed at beta-amyloid. I think there is a better chance for this therapy because of the way it works, by transition the microglia over to an anti-inflammatory mode. If this procedure passed safety trials I wouldn't be surprised if a similar therapy worked for schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression.
Ok so the article says this successfully destroys the amyloid plaques, but does it help cognition or slow the disease? Specifically for “slowing” it seems entirely plausible that breaking up the plaques will allow misfolded proteins to migrate (due to reduced size). Ignoring entirely the there have been multiple drugs that successfully reduced amyloid build up, with no actual benefit. Eg they did exactly what they we…
"the team has worked to further test and refine the technique, successfully proving the treatment both clears toxic proteins and restores memory function safely in several different rodent models, including an older mouse model designed to resemble human brains of 80 to 90 years old."