In the article Light and Sound Stimulation Helps Regrow Brain’s ‘White Matter,’ Protects Against Neurodegeneration: Animal Study it is reported that Demyelination, which occurs when nerves lose their protective fatty coating, is the cause of several severe and incurable neurodegenerative diseases. In a recent animal study, researchers found a way to possibly recover the lost fatty coating by stimulating the brain to release more gamma brain waves. Using patterned light and sound paced at 40 hertz (Hz), mice were induced to produce gamma brain waves. “Gamma stimulation promotes a healthy environment, … The protective effects of multisensory gamma stimulation on myelin and anti-neuroinflammatory properties support its potential as a therapeutic approach for demyelinating disorders,” the study authors wrote.
The study’s author noted that her team’s prior research has shown that enhanced gamma waves protect against neurodegeneration, prevent the loss of nerve connections, retain brain volume, reduce neuroinflammation, and ameliorate cognitive effects.
Another prior study by the same researchers has shown that gamma stimulation at 40 Hz preserved the density of nerves and prevented brain atrophy in an Alzheimer’s disease animal model, the study said.
The researchers said that previous research primarily focused on direct protection of the nerve cells, rather than on the myelin sheath. “We show that gamma waves are also very protective against demyelination and white matter inflammation. …This study shows that it’s not just the gray matter, but also the white matter that’s protected by this method.”
White matter refers to parts of the nervous system made up of many axons covered with myelin, which has a light appearance and functions to insulate and speed up the nerves’ communication. Gray matter has fewer myelinated axons and more cell bodies.