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 info@quietmindfdn.org with questions on enrollment.
 
neurosciencenews.com/olfactory-inflammation-alzheimers-22077/

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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 These findings support previously unpublished findings from experiments conducted at Quietmind Fdn.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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Our efforts to promote the use of 1070nm intranasal and transcranial stimulation for prevention of COVID neuroinflammation has now been independently validated by this current report from Univ. of Queensland in Australia regarding changes in Microglial NLRP3 inflammasome activation. This response is associated with neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and has been the focus of efforts by our collaborators at Durham University. This most recent finding is direct invitro evidence for how SARS COVID 2 virus causes the brain to become inflamed and 'angry' according to the authors Trent Woodruff and Eduardo Albornoz Balmaceda from the university’s School of Biomedical Sciences and virologists from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences. It was published in Nature’s Molecular Psychiatry.

The Neuradiant 1070nm transcranial photobiomodulation device can help reduce the inflammatory burden as we showed in our recent review article on the subject. (see attached) 

We hope to see more efforts undertaken to show the value of light therapy as a way to quickly and safely protect ourselves from the neuroinflammatory damage that comes with COVID. More information at neuronic.online 

www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/coronavirus-2/covid-19-triggers-brain-inflammation-similar-to-parkinsons-and-other-neurodegenerative-conditions/

I've made the point in numerous places that the photobiomodulation dose response curve is not like American capitalism, more is not always better. Here is a very good basic science example that helps support this view. Researchers used different amount of light energy on human skin cells to see how they'd respond. The key result was that the lower power settings produce the most positive change in cell proliferation activity. 

Majority people who are now using the Neuradiant 1070+, as well as the Vielight Neuro devices, report benefit from shorter periods of stimulation and do not experience any of the typical overdose responses including headaches, increased sense of congestion and pressure, agitation, irritability, dizziness, and fatigue. This has informed the Neuradiant's titration protocol to start with 3 minutes, then wait 5-10 minutes before continuing for another 3 minutes. The stimulation location, pulse frequency, and intensity are each both programmed based on clinical history, telehealth consultation and quantitative EEG analysis.  The dosing schedule often increases over time and can even exceed 20 minutes in some cases to as much as 30 minutes twice daily but always with an eye to recognizing signs of overdose and then adjusting accordingly. 

PBM dosing is an evolving process and will become more specific as we evolve our real time neurometric acquisition and anlalytic capability. 

What my colleagues and I have been saying for quite some time is now being supported by independent research findings about the value of brainwave biofeedback training as a way to reduce neuroinflammation resulting from chemotherapy. Women being treated for breast cancer engaged in neurofeedback training 3 times a week for up to 9 weeks for a total of 18, 30-minute training sessions. Quantitative EEG and neuropsychological testing was done before and after the training sessions were completed and indicated significant improvement in a range of cognitive and executive function measures. The sample size is too small to draw conclusions but is compelling enough to warrant larger studies.  Quietmind Fdn. IRB reviewed a study conducted in 2013 by Jean Alvarez and her colleagues using neurofeedback for breast cancer patients using a different method of neurofeedback and similar results were obtained. We're encouraged to see these findings now coming out of a major academic research university and hope that it will lead to larger trials and hopefully FDA approval and insurance reimbursement. 

https://neurosciencenews.com/neurofeedback-chemo-brain-21313/

There is always been a strong debate around the appropriate dosing scheme for achieving the best clinical results with PBM. The paper attached here is showing that lower doses of red light stimulation were more effective in producing positive biological responses including cell proliferation and healthy growth and viability. This lends itself to the idea that the body can use small amounts of stimulation to then self regulate and organize its own healing responses. This aligns with many holistic and integrative health traditions as well as the behavioral medicine models that underpin therapeutic approaches like neurofeedback, acupuncture and homeopathy. 

Our experience has long supported these findings as more and more people begin to use the Neuradiant PBM technology. We see a growing percentage of people needing only very brief exposures to the stimulation in order the see significant improvements in cognitive, motor and mood stability. Treatment times can be as brief as 30 seconds to 1 minute a day for people with Parkinson's disease and traumatic brain injury. I find myself repeatedly directing people to cut the dose time in half and reduce the duty cycle to 25-50% instead of the 75% maximum for pulsed stimulation. 

I think this allows for a more nuanced model of stimulation delivery that supports the already more targeted method of dosing that incorporates the use of Quantitative EEG assessment. 

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A recent paper published in Frontiers of Neuroimaging titled 'Synergistic photobiomodulation with 808-nm and 1064-nm lasers to reduce the b-amyloid neurotoxicity in the in vitro Alzheimer’s disease models' (see below) helps to facilitate the application of photobiomodulation with greater specificity and thereby improving clinical efficacy. The paper is a good piece of in vitro (outside the body) evidence for how these two critically important wavelengths influence neuronal cellular metabolic functioning. The findings suggest "...A synergistic PBM effect (with the 808- and 1,064-nm lasers) effectively inhibited the fAb-induced neurotoxicity of neuroblastoma by promoting the viability of neuroblastoma and regulating the intracellular Ca2+ levels of microglia. Moreover, the downregulation of Ca2+ led to microglial polarization with an M2 phenotype, which promotes the fAb phagocytosis, and resulted in the upregulated expression of anti-inflammatory factors and downregulated expression of inflammatory factors.

This underscores the validity of previous studies and approaches that are using transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) to mitigate both hypoperfusion and inflammation of people struggling with neurodegeneartive conditions, e.g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.

These bench science insights create important opportunities to further enhance tPBM's clinical efficacy by using these two wavelengths to their greatest therapeutic advantage. Neuronic Devices Ltd. and Quietmind Foundation are now working with our academic research partners in the USA and UK on the next generation tPBM applications that will reflect the results of our applied clinical research in this area. 

The Lancet has published on the persistent neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders of those with 'long COVID'. Brain fog is the most prevalent symptoms which we know is amenable to treatment with photobiomodulation and neurofeedback. 
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(22)00260-7/fulltext#seccestitle150 

The effect of photobiomodulation on the brain during wakefulness and sleep
Frontiers in Neuroscience (2022) DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.942536​
Cecile Moro1, Audrey Valverde1, Marjorie Dole1,Jaimie Hoh Kam1, Catherine Hamilton2, Ann Liebert3,
Brian Bicknell4, Alim-Louis Benabid1, Pierre Magistretti1,5 and John Mitrofanis1,6*

I'm very glad to see this paper detailing the differences in response to PBM during sleep and wakefulness as it directs our attention to new and creatively therapeutic applications of this remarkable tool. The model of combined PBM and Neurofeedback (NFB) treatment used in our lab and clinical practice is initially centered on renormalization of circadian rhythm. The paper recognizes the default mode network's impaired functionality in dementia which supports our advocating the integration of neurofeedback training with photobiomodulation to resolve both tissue-level and neural connectivity aspects of neurodegenerative disorders.

PBM has been shown to increase cortical perfusion thereby reversing the decline in glymphatic functioning that's associated with neurodegeneration. The authors speculate that biophotonic emissions are a part of the neural communication network and increase in influence during sleep. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) described how our organs and comprehensive functional systems as having activity and repair cycles and that some critical repair activity initiates when we are asleep, e.g. the liver repairs itself between 1-3am but only if we are asleep during that period. (www.nirvananaturopathics.com/blog/).  The glymphatic system only recently identified in western medical literature, is now describing how the body organizes both repair and detoxification functions that are in line with the TCM's temporal rhythm model. 

Unfortunately, there was no mention in this paper concerning the use of 1070nm as an effective wavelength for photobiomodulation by noting the effective range was from 600-1000nm. There is now rather compelling evidence for 1070nm being more effective at increasing CCO and oxygenated hemoglobin as was shown in work from Hanli Liu's lab at UT-Arlington (Pruitt, 2021) and from Baylor Research Institute and Quietmind Foundation in modifying both cognitive and behavioral symptoms of early to mid-stage Alzheimer's disease. (Nizamutdinov, 2021)  Quietmind Fdn. will be initiating case studies using the Neuradiant 1070 4Q PBM system being promoted by Neuronic Devices Ltd. to evaluate the use of PBM during wakefulness and sleep and collect EEG, HRV, and other relevant biometric data.  

References: 
Pruitt, T.; Carter, C.; Wang, X.;Wu, A.; Liu, H. Photobiomodulation at Different Wavelengths Boosts Mitochondrial Redox Metabolism and Hemoglobin Oxygenation: Lasers vs. Light-Emitting Diodes In Vivo. Metabolites 2022, 12, 103. https://
doi.org/10.3390/metabo12020103

Nizamutdinov, D, etal., Transcranial Near Infrared Light Stimulations Improve Cognition in Patients with Dementia Aging and Disease • Volume 12, Number 4, July 2021 960.

We must become aware and begin to address the need for longer term neurological damage having been caused by COVID19. This video outlines the basis for serious concern for the future of many millions of people who are struggling with these conditions. Luckily Quietmind Foundation and our colelagues at Durham University and Neuronic Devices Ltd.  are working to foster recognition for the use of intranasal and transcranial infrared photobiomodulation as a simple, low-cost, safe and reliable way for people to help themselves protect against infection, decrease the intensity of the disease and to help mitigate the longer-term neurological damage. We're seeing that about 25% of people worldwide who have been infected with COVID 19 are at risk of developing these longer-term neurological symptoms. Research on the use of 1070nm light stimulation has shown to be effective in helping reduce the effects on brain cells and blood vessels that are the places where the virus is causing damage. 

Please listen to Michelle Monje, MD, PhD
Stanford Univ. Neuro-oncologist and Neuroscientist
https://youtu.be/szyHCvtsJ_c

Then please read the paper below to see how photobiomodulation can be a significant step we all can take to help prevent COVID 19 related injury to ourselves and our family members.

For more information on using infrared light to help protect yourself against long COVID 19 click here https://www.quietmindfdn.org/equipment or neuronic.online