Vibrotactile stimulation at gamma frequency mitigates pathology related to neurodegeneration and improves motor function

• DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1129510
• Publication Date: 2023-05-18T07:37:10Z
• Authors: Ho-Jun Suk; Nicole Buie; Guojie Xu; Arit Banerjee; Edward S. Boyden; Li-Huei Tsai
• Keywords: Sensory stimulation therapy; Brain stimulation

The risk for neurodegenerative diseases increases with aging, various pathological conditions and functional deficits accompanying these diseases. We have previously demonstrated that non-invasive visual stimulation using 40 Hz light flicker ameliorated pathology modified cognitive function in mouse models of neurodegeneration, but whether another sensory modality can impact neurodegeneration motor has not been studied. Here, we show whole-body vibrotactile at leads to increased neural activity the primary somatosensory cortex (SSp) (MOp). In two different Tau P301S CK-p25 mice, daily exposure across multiple weeks also led decreased brain SSp MOp. Furthermore, both mice showed improved performance after stimulation. Vibrotactile may thus be considered as a promising therapeutic strategy deficits.