New brain stimulation method shows dementia treatment promise

Known as temporal interference (TI), it works by applying electric fields to the brain via electrodes placed on the head. By targeting the overlapping electric fields, the Imperial team was able to stimulate the hippocampus without affecting the surrounding brain areas, something that was not previously possible without invasive surgery.

The technique has been successfully trialled with 20 healthy volunteers for the first time by a team at the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) at Imperial and Surrey University. Published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the initial findings show that when healthy adults perform a memory task whilst receiving TI stimulation, it helped to improve memory function.

“Until now, if we wanted to electrically stimulate structures deep inside the brain, we needed to surgically implant electrodes which of course carries risk for the patient, and can lead to complications,” said research lead Dr Nir Grossman, from Imperials’ Department of Brain Sciences.