An experimental helmet, created by Dr. Gordon Dougal of the research company Virulite, could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease within weeks. The device, which sends infra-red light through the skull and directly to brain tissue, is to be worn for just ten minutes a day. After just four weeks, symptoms such as memory loss and anxiety are reversed by stimulating the growth of brain cells and encouraging their repair.

“Currently all you can do with dementia is to slow down the rate of decay - this new process will not only stop that rate of decay but partially reverse it,” Dr. Dougal said. “The implications of this research at Sunderland are enormous - so much so that in the future we could be able to affect and change the rate at which our bodies age. We age because our cells lose the desire to regenerate and repair themselves.” He continued, “This ultimately results in cell death and decline of the organ functions - for the brain resulting in memory decay and deterioration in general intellectual performance. But what if there was a technology that told the cells to repair themselves and that technology was something as simple as a specific wavelength of light?”

Human trials are due to start this summer using levels of infra-red which occur naturally in sunlight. A study with lab mice found that middle-aged mice exposed to infrared for six minutes per day, through the span of ten days, were able to improve their performance in a maze. An Alzheimer’s Society spokesman said the reversal of Alzheimer’s symptoms could change the lives of countless people, adding that “we look forward to further research to determine whether this technique could help improve cognition in humans.”

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