(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists have shown that safe and non-invasive laser therapy can improve a person’s short-term memory.
The researchers irradiated the participants’ right prefrontal cortex with infrared laser light for several minutes and observed a 25% improvement in their memory.
Scientists from the University of Birmingham (UK) and Peking University (China) have used transcranial photobiomodulation to improve short-term memory or working memory.
This method consists in exposing the patient’s brain to infrared laser radiation, which easily passes through the bones and tissues of the head and does not cause unwanted side effects.
Thus, the authors of the study irradiated the right prefrontal cortex of the participants in the experiment – it is believed that this area of the brain is extremely important for working memory. Just a few minutes of such therapy significantly improved the working memory of the subjects.
Previous studies have shown that laser stimulation improves the memory of mice, and experiments in humans have demonstrated the effectiveness of the method in speeding up reactions and increasing alertness.
This therapy may be relevant for patients with disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or other conditions associated with impaired attention. The simple method does not cause side effects.
The experiment involved 90 men and women aged 18 to 25 years, they were divided into two groups: one was irradiated to the right prefrontal cortex, the other, the control group, to the left prefrontal cortex.
The scientists used infrared laser light with a wavelength of 1064 nanometers. After a few minutes, participants were asked to recall the orientation and color of a set of geometric elements that were shown to them on a computer screen.
The people who received the therapy showed a clear improvement in memory compared to the control group. On average, they recalled 25% more items.
Analysis of the electroencephalography (EEG) data from the participants, who recorded during the experiment, revealed changes in brain activity that also predicted improvements in working memory performance.
While scientists cannot say exactly how this type of therapy affects memory and how long the effect will last. To answer these questions, they plan further studies. According to the authors of the article, light can stimulate astrocytes – auxiliary cells of the nervous tissue – and positively affect their function.
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