Strobe lighting provides a flicker of hope in the fight against Alzheimer’s

Exposure to flashing lights stimulates brain's immune cells to clean up toxic proteins causing the disease, study finds

Strobe lighting has been shown to reduce levels of the toxic proteins seen in Alzheimer's disease, in findings that raise the tantalising possibility of future non-invasive treatments for the disease.

The study, in mice, found that exposure to flickering light stimulated brain waves, called gamma oscillations, that are known to be disturbed in Alzheimer's patients. Boosting this synchronous brain activity appeared to act as a cue for the brain's immune cells, prompting them to absorb the sticky amyloid proteins that are the most visible hallmarks of the disease in the brain's of people with Alzheimer's.