Just in case there's anyone still wondering about how challenging COVID 19 infections can be to our brain functioning, there's this report from Harvard.
Key takeaways:
https://healthnews.com/news/harvard-scientists-find-severe-cases-of-covid-19-increases-brain-aging/
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It has been known that dementia can effect our sense of smell and that a biomarker of the smell of leather has been around for quite some time. The new study evidence from University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus points to a more generalized statement regarding COVID 19 causing olfactory inflammation. I believe we can use olfactory ERP measures to evaluate the severity of inflammation and then determine the efficacy of intranasal tPBM therapy using the same measures.
Quietmind is developing pilot trials using intranasal 1070nm stimulation, contact [email protected] with questions on enrollment. neurosciencenews.com/olfactory-inflammation-alzheimers-22077/ This paper from University of Birmingham confirmed that 1064nm light stimulation to the right frontal cortex improves working memory in normal adults. This is a good study comparing a single 12 minute treatment with a 1064nm or an 852nm laser light to the left or right side of the forehead. This was a single blind sham controlled study with participants being instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible whether the orientation or color of the objects presented on computer monitor in the cued hemifield had changed after the WM delay. Event related potentials were used as a biomarker for working memory capacity and showed a clear increase in the delay in occipital-parietal activity in the 1064nm stimulation group. Both low and high performing subgroups in the study sample responded to the 1064nm stimulation with significant working memory improvements. There also was no difference in the results among those subjects with low or high working memory ability measured before they engaged in the experimental treatment process. These findings support previously unpublished findings from experiments conducted at Quietmind Fdn. (2012-2020) wherein a single 6-minute administration of pulsed 1068nm LED-based transcranial and intraocular stimulation. Subjective reports of significant visual perception changes, e.g., >85% of volunteers (N≈500) reported increased overall sensation of increased brightness, richness of color, discriminative acutiy, and depth of field. Subjects were responding to viewing a natural scene just outside the clinic offices before and then immediately following the stimualtion session, that included grass, bushes, trees in the nearfield 3-5m and at a distance (10-20m). These experiments were conducted at all times during the day and over all seasons. This correlates with the point made in the present study as to the neurophysiological mechanism being an increased amount of visual data being processed, i.e., 'the amount of information being maintained in working memory' (p.3) The present study wisely considered the effect of tissue heating by the higher 1064nm light wavelength and so they equalized the light delivery from both wavelengths of light were delivered equally to the scalp tissue. They found that the behavioral and electrophysiological findings with 1064nm tPBM were not explained by heating. While the electrophysiological measures produced marginal significance the subjects own perception of difference between the two treatment modalities was no greater than chance. (p.5) Quietmind and Neuronic are now collaborating with one of the study's authors Prof. Liu at UT-Arlington to study the biological impact of 1070nm LED-based tPBM with both normal and clinical populations.
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