In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis and connectivity

In research, scientists found that 40Hz sensory stimulation improved cognition and circuit connectivity and encouraged the growth of new neurons in mice genetically engineered to model Down syndrome. The method, called GENUS (for Gamma Entrainment Using Sensory Stimulation), could provide clinical benefits. In the first set of experiments, the team shows that an hour a day of 40Hz light and sound exposure for three weeks was associated with significant improvements on three standard short-term memory tests—two involving distinguishing novelty from familiarity and one involving spatial navigation. Because these kinds of memory tasks involve a brain region called the hippocampus, the...