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Li-Huei Tsai: A Ray of Hope in the Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease

Amazing Things Podcast

Li-Huei Tsai: A Ray of Hope in the Fight Against Alzheimer's Disease

August 11, 2017

United For Medical Research

The statistics on Alzheimer’s disease are daunting. More than five million Americans are living with the disease and by 2050 this number could be as high as 16 million. Dr. Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, and her team of researchers have discovered that LED lights, flickering at a specific frequency, substantially reduce the beta amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease, in the visual cortex of mice. Their work was published in the journal Nature in December 2016. If this finding bears out in humans, it is a game-changer.

Summary

Dr. Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, and her team of researchers have discovered that LED lights, flickering at a specific frequency, substantially reduce the beta amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease, in the visual cortex of mice. Their work was published in the journal Nature in December 2016. If this finding bears out in humans, it is a game-changer.