Researchers validated a wireless EEG method to measure neuroplasticity, offering a non-invasive way to track how the brain responds to new treatments.
The approach could provide an objective readout of brain response to therapies for psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganise its connections after experience, injury or disease, for example by forming new pathways to aid recovery.
The research, conducted by Cumulus Neuroscience, used visual evoked potential (VEP) modulation to mark neuroplasticity.
VEPs are brain signals produced in response to visual patterns.
The method was tested in two US-based clinical trials involving 50 healthy participants.
Brian Murphy, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Cumulus Neuroscience, said: “This study demonstrates that it is possible to measure neuroplasticity reliably in real-world clinical environments using a non-invasive, low-burden, scalable approach.
“Our findings open the door to incorporating objective plasticity measures into early-phase CNS drug development, which could accelerate progress in treating neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.”
Conventional EEG assessments are time-consuming and burdensome, which has limited their use in trials.
The new approach uses a quick set-up dry EEG headset with frequency-domain analyses to extract precise measures.
Dr David Walling, chief clinical officer for CenExel-CNS and principal investigator for the study, said: “The ability to capture valid VEPs in clinical studies with easy-to-deploy technology and short sessions has the potential to transform how we assess the efficacy of new therapies in this space.
“Historically, we have not had a way to directly measure neuroplasticity outside of animal models which require invasive techniques.
“We can now integrate non-invasive VEP measures into clinical study workflows, providing sponsors with objective biomarkers of target engagement and treatment effects early in development.”
