Project description
60-Hz entrainment’s potential in anxiety disorders
Mental health issues represent an increasing societal burden. While psychiatric medications often show limited effectiveness, recent research has demonstrated that non-invasive light at 60 Hz can help remove the perineuronal net (PNN) in mice, enhancing cognitive performance. This discovery offers a promising avenue for mental health treatment. The ERC-funded SYNTROPIC project will assess the therapeutic potential of 60-Hz entrainment in a preclinical model of anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The project aims to identify the optimal stage of fear memory formation for treatment, refine the duration and frequency of therapy, and establish physiological criteria for success. These findings will support prototype development and provide a therapeutic framework crucial for transitioning to clinical studies, ultimately paving the way for a spin-off company.
Objective
Mental health problems are a critical and ever-increasing burden to society. Psychiatric medications aim to adjust imbalances in synapse signaling, but often have only moderate-to-weak efficacy. Psychiatric medications aim to adjust imbalance in synapse signaling but often have only moderate-to-weak efficacy. The main challenge is that certain neuronal infrastructures for cognitive and emotional skills are secured with a rigid extracellular matrix known as the perineuronal net (PNN) that forms around neurons and locks the brain in a function state. Enzymatic interventions that can release the lock have been evaluated in mice, but they are not appropriate for translating into human therapeutics because they are invasive and prevent the reformation of PNN making the brain vulnerable. In the context of the ERC StG, we discovered that non-invasive external light entrainment at highly-selective 60-Hz enables microglia localized within the neuronal network to transiently remove PNN in a controlled and brain region-specific manner in both sexes with improved cognitive performances in mice. Thus, our discovery solves the urgent need for a targeted, non-invasive, non-pharmacological, therefore environmental-friendly therapeutic intervention. This ERC Proof-of-Concept will allow us to expand on our discovery and evaluate the therapeutic potential in a preclinical mouse model of anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our objectives are to identify at which stage of the fear memory formation 60-Hz entrainment shows the highest benefit, adjust treatment length and repetition frequency, and validate physiological parameters as a therapeutic success criterium. These insights will refine the first prototype development and set the therapeutic frame, which will both be critical to smoothen the transition into a clinical study post-ERC PoC, and will set the foundation for a spin-off company.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine psychiatry posttraumatic stress disorder
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-POC
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3400 Klosterneuburg
Austria
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