Published on 16 June 2024 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The study explores alternative methods for enhancing cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease beyond the traditional focus on amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque clearance. Researchers examine the role of tau protein in neurodegeneration and investigate the potential of low-intensity ultrasound as a neuromodulatory technique. The findings suggest that cognitive improvements can be achieved without directly targeting Aβ deposits, highlighting the potential of tau-focused interventions and non-invasive neuromodulation as promising therapeutic strategies.
A Decade of Innovation in Non-Invasive Ultrasound
For over 10 years, the team at the Queensland Brain Institute has been at the forefront of non-invasive ultrasound technology, pioneering breakthrough solutions for neurological disease.
PUBLICATIONS
Scanning ultrasound-mediated memory and functional improvements do not require amyloid-β reduction
A prevalent view in treating age-dependent disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is that the underlying amyloid plaque pathology must be targeted for cognitive improvements. In contrast, we report here that repeated scanning ultrasound (SUS) treatment at 1 MHz...
Ultrasound-Mediated Bioeffects in Senescent Mice and Alzheimer’s Mouse Models
Ultrasound is routinely used for a wide range of diagnostic imaging applications. However, given that ultrasound can operate over a wide range of parameters that can all be modulated, its applicability extends far beyond the bioimaging field. In fact, the modality has...
Therapeutic Ultrasound as a Treatment Modality for Physiological and Pathological Ageing Including Alzheimer’s Disease
Physiological and pathological ageing (as exemplified by Alzheimer’s disease, AD) are characterized by a progressive decline that also includes cognition. How this decline can be slowed or even reversed is a critical question. Here, we discuss therapeutic ultrasound...
Low-intensity ultrasound restores long-term potentiation and memory in senescent mice through pleiotropic mechanisms including NMDAR signaling
Advanced physiological aging is associated with impaired cognitive performance and the inability to induce long-term potentiation (LTP), an electrophysiological correlate of memory. Here, we demonstrate in the physiologically aged, senescent mouse brain that scanning...
A comparative study of the effects of Aducanumab and scanning ultrasound on amyloid plaques and behavior in the APP23 mouse model of Alzheimer disease
Background Aducanumab is an anti-amyloid-β (Aβ) antibody that achieved reduced amyloid pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) trials; however, it is controversial whether it also improved cognition, which has been suggested would require a sufficiently high cumulative...
Scanning ultrasound in the absence of blood-brain barrier opening is not sufficient to clear β-amyloid plaques in the APP23 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
A major challenge in treating brain diseases is presented by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that constitutes an efficient barrier not only for toxins but also a wide range of therapeutic agents. In overcoming this impediment, ultrasound in combination with...
Repeated ultrasound treatment of tau transgenic mice clears neuronal tau by autophagy and improves behavioral functions
Intracellular deposits of pathological tau are the hallmark of a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders collectively known as tauopathies, with Alzheimer's disease, a secondary tauopathy, being further characterized by extracellular amyloid plaques. A major...
Multimodal analysis of aged wild-type mice exposed to repeated scanning ultrasound treatments demonstrates long-term safety
The blood-brain barrier presents a major challenge for the delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain; however, it can be transiently opened by combining low intensity ultrasound with microbubble infusion. Studies evaluating this technology have largely been...
Safety and Efficacy of Scanning Ultrasound Treatment of Aged APP23 Mice
Deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide leads to amyloid plaques that together with tau deposits characterize the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). In modeling this pathology, transgenic animals such as the APP23 strain, that expresses a mutant form of...