Transcranial and intracranial lights in Parkinson's

Here's a 2021 journal article from the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Catherine is a co-author, and her work with people using the Well Red Duo Coronet is a key part of the paper.

This article looks at the animal and clinical evidence for the use of transcranial and intracranial red and near infrared light devices. There is a lot of detailed information, including and in-depth description of the effect of transcranial red and near infrared lights in people with Parkinson's disease.

As for which is best - intracranial or transcranial? The verdict is that neither is best on its own. The best is having both working together. It makes sense, having light shining from inside and outside the brain.

Alas, you might be waiting a while before you get access to an intracranial light implant (think DBS with a 670nm LED light), but you can use transcranial lights right now.

You can make your own or - much easier - use the Duo Coronet.

Meanwhile, have a read.

Reference:

Johnstone, Daniel M., Catherine Hamilton, Luke C. Gordon, Cecile Moro, Napoleon Torres, Frank Nicklason, Jonathan Stone, Alim-Louis Benabid, and John Mitrofanis. “Exploring the Use of Intracranial and Extracranial (Remote) Photobiomodulation Devices in Parkinson’s Disease: A Comparison of Direct and Indirect Systemic Stimulations.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, April 5, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-210052.

Photobiomodulation and the brain: the orchestral analogy

Check out the blog posts about a fascinating article called How and why does photobiomodulation change brain activity?

This is a particularly good read.

It is short - not even two pages, but it is a fantastic summary of recent findings. As well, it poses some intriguing questions.

Reference:

Mitrofanis J, Henderson LA. How and why does photobiomodulation change brain activity?. Neural Regen Res. 2020;15(12):2243-2244. doi:10.4103/1673-5374.284989

Further reading

There are many academic research papers and studies that have been published in recent years on the benefits of photobiomodulation.

Although they make for very dry reading, the results of the studies are peer reviewed and give an objective and factual account of the benefits that can be expected from light therapy.

Many papers can be found here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Photobiomodulation

40Hz pulsing helps Alzheimer’s Disease

McDermott B, Porter E, Hughes D, et al. Gamma Band Neural Stimulation in Humans and the Promise of a New Modality to Prevent and Treat Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;65(2):363–392. doi:10.3233/JAD-180391

This is a fascinating article which talks about the importance of a particular kind of brainwave called gamma waves, which range from around 30 to 100Hz. 

When you are concentrating, thinking, learning and using your memory with very focussed attention, the gamma waves are working hard in your brain. In Alzheimer’s disease, it looks like the brain doesn’t spend anywhere near as much time enjoying gamma waves, and this then means that it becomes difficult to concentrate, think and remember things. 

In an animal model, there is evidence that having a 40Hz pulse applied over a specific area can change the way that the brain works, and in particular, help the brain to collect and chuck out the garbage that collects in the brain. There is a theory that not putting out the brain garbage is one of the reasons that Alzheimer’s disease develops. 

It seems that 40Hz, which is in the gamma range, is a particularly good garbage collector. 

Because of this work, our Coronet uses 40Hz pulsing, and yes, it pulses right over that specific area of the brain. 

Near infrared light brain simulates dopamine-producing cells

Trimmer PA et al, Reduced axonal transport in Parkinson’s disease cybrid neurites is restored by light therapy. Mol Neurodegener. 2009 Jun 17;4:26. doi: 10.1186/1750-1326-4-26.

This is an oldie but a goodie.  Researchers were able to use cells taken from people with and without Parkinson’s disease (PD) and then compare the way that these cells function. They knew that the dopamine-producing cells that are first affected by Parkinson’s have very long axons – imagine cables that connect one cell with a bunch of other cells in a distant part of the brain. They also knew that these long axons or cables are poorly insulated in all of us, and so they tend to be vulnerable to damage.

The researchers first checked an earlier finding, that in Parkinson’s these very long axons arising from dopamine-producing cells become less efficient in communicating with other parts of the brain. Yep, they clearly showed that PD-affected axons were deficient, compared with non-PD axons.

Having established this, they turned to the interesting part of their study, shining a short burst of 810nm (near infrared light) onto the PD cells. Suddenly the axons from these PD-affected dopamine-producing cells sprang to life, and started behaving as if they didn’t come from someone with PD.

Of course, once the effect of the 810nm wore off, the axons from the PD cells went back to their original dismal level of activity. No surprises there, as all the evidence shows that there needs to be regular bursts of red or near infrared light on the cells to get them fired up again and again. This is why Prof Alim Benabid and Prof John Mitrofanis developed the intra-cranial red light device in 2015 (like the deep-brain stimulation device only with red light instead of an electric current.)

So what does this research tell us? It gives more insight into how PD-damaged brain cells respond to the presence of red and near infrared lights. The batteries in PD-damaged cells, the mitochondria, get an energy recharge from red light, immediately sending fuel to these long, vulnerable axons along with a metaphorical kick in the rear-end. This mechanism shows that trans-cranial light, which penetrates a couple of centimetres into the outer brain tissue, can in fact have an effect on cells in the basal ganglia, where the problems first arise. Click here.

Near infrared light brain implant for Parkinson's Disease

Reinhart et al, 2015, Nearinfrared light (670 nm) reduces MPTPinduced parkinsonism within a broad therapeutic time window. 

This study was one in an impressive research series by the Mitrofanis/Benabid teams showing that shining 670nm light directly onto the damaged dopamine-producing cells resulted in a complete cure with restoration of the function of those cells. Even if the damage was well established and severe, the implanted light was a cure. 

Prof Alim Benabid, by the way, developed DBS, Deep Brain Stimulation, and it is his expertise that helped develop the deep brain light implant. If I had Parkinson’s disease, I’d be heading over to Grenoble in France, to ask Prof Benabid about getting a light implant. 

It will be a game-changer in treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Click here.

The Helmet Study – Red light and Parkinson’s Disease in animal models

Johnstone et al, 2014, Indirect application of near infrared light induces neuroprotection in a mouse model of Parkinsonism - an abscopal neuroprotective effect.

This is called the 'helmet' study, and is a beautifully constructed investigation into the indirect effect of near infrared light. Mice with induced Parkinson's Disease had near infrared light shone either on their body only or their head only. The mice who only had light shone on their bodies had significant improvement Parkinson's symptoms. This study by members of the Mitofanis/Benabid teams gave support to the notion that trans-cranial near infrared lights could improve Parkinson's symptoms, even though we know that the near infrared light would not directly reach the damaged cells. Click here.

Trans-cranial red and near infrared lights in people with Parkinson’s Disease

Hamilton C, Hamilton D, Nicklason F, El Massri N, Mitrofanis J. Exploring the use of transcranial photobiomodulation in Parkinson's disease patients. Neural Regen Res 2018;13:1738-40

This article summarises the early findings of people with Parkinson’s disease using light hats and focuses on what is likely to be happening in the brain. It is a bit technical, but it is one of the very first journal articles considering  the significant implications the results from these case studies.  

Case studies of people with Parkinson’s disease using DIY bucket light hat devices

Hamilton CL, El Khoury H, Hamilton D, Nicklason F, Mitrofanis J. The “Buckets”: Early Observations on the Use of Red and Infrared Light Helmets in Parkinson’s Disease Patients. Photobiomodulation, Photomedicine, and Laser Surgery. 2019. doi:10.1089/photob.2019.4663

This article summarises six people’s experience with the daily use of a red and near infrared light hat.  All had been diagnosed with PD. All showed improvements using daily red and near infrared lights. 

The problem areas included tremor, difficulty walking, sleep disruption, difficulty swallowing and speaking, having a blank face unable to show emotion, not being able to smell, problems using fingers and hands and having difficulty in social situations. After using the lights every day, each person had improvement in most of the problem areas. There was no other change in treatment to account for these improvements.  The other important thing is that none worsened in any way. 

The curious thing was that the individual with the PD didn’t always feel that much had changed, even though everyone around could appreciate the changes. 

Why and how does light therapy work in Parkinson’s disease?

This is a great article by Prof John Mitrofanis, the world leader in photobiomodulation and Parkinson’s. It has much detail explained with great clarity. Even better, it is only two pages.

It poses two critical questions:

• Can red/near infrared light protect brain cells from dying?

• If yes, then how does the light do that?

In Parkinson’s Disease, cells that live deep in the brain and produce dopamine are slowly killed, and do not regenerate. As more cells die, brain dopamine levels plummet, and the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease appear. As even more of these cells die, Parkinson’s symptoms increase. By the time of first diagnosis, a good swathe of dopamine-producing cells are now dead.

Question 1: Can light protect brain cells from dying?

Yes, in two different ways.

• Direct: if red/near infrared light can shine directly onto the ailing cells, then the cells will respond, start acting normally, and eventually start producing new dopamine-producing cells. However, it is hard to get red light to penetrate into the deepest parts of the brain where dopamine cells are living.

• Indirect: if red/near infrared light shines somewhere on the body, then there is a system that transports the light energy to other parts of the body, most particularly the parts of the body that are not functioning well. It is not as efficient but it can be surprisingly effective in reducing symptoms.

Question 2: How does the light do it?

This is what is currently known:

• light pops some energy into the brain cell which allows the cell to increase its activity and energy production

• the boosted cell sets off a series of chemical cascades

• releases a chemical that opens up the blood vessels and increases blood flow to the cell and its neighbours

• activates genes that are responsible for maintaining the cell’s health

• starts the process to generate new brain cells

• different wavelengths in the red/near infrared spectrum activate different parts of the cell and set off different cascades. All of them seem to be good for the cell.

Have a read of this article. It is an excellent collation of very recent and very good quality research into the effect of red/near infrared light on the brain.

Reference:

Mitrofanis J. Why and how does light therapy offer neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease? Neural Regen Res 2017;12:574-5.