Domestic researchers have presented findings that suggest memories lost to Alzheimer's disease can be revived by exposure to light. Among various colors of light, red light was found to have the most significant effect.

KAIST announced on the 24th that Professor Choi Kyung-chul's team from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, in collaboration with the Korea Brain Research Institute, developed an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) photostimulation technology with uniform luminance in three colors. This study was published last month in 'ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.'

The research team conducted OLED photostimulation experiments on mice exhibiting Alzheimer's symptoms. The experiment involved placing the mice in an enclosed space and exposing them to four colors of light—white, red, green, and blue—from four directions under identical conditions (40Hz frequency, brightness, exposure time, etc.).

Mice in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease showed memory improvement effects after being exposed to white and red light for one hour each day over two days. The amount of 'amyloid beta' protein, a primary cause of Alzheimer's disease, also decreased. Mice in the mid-stages of Alzheimer's showed significant improvement only with red light. After two weeks of stimulation under the same conditions, both white and red light contributed to memory enhancement, but only red light reduced the amount of amyloid beta protein.

Analyzing the brain circuits after photostimulation, the research team found that the entire circuit from vision to memory was activated. This neurologically proves that light stimulation enhances memory by activating the visual pathway.

The researchers plan to advance to human clinical trials by measuring various conditions such as stimulation intensity, energy, and duration. Professor Choi stated, “This study demonstrates the potential for developing wearable red OLED electronic drugs that can be used in daily life for treatment.”

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