Neuromodulation Technologies for the Treatment of Alzheimer Disease

There are not very many effective treatment options for Alzheimer disease and most of the options have side effects for many people, and temporarily reduce symptoms rather than delay disease progression. Effective treatments with minimal side effects that prevent and reduce the severity of Alzheimer disease are needed.

Neuromodulation techniques have recently emerged for the treatment of Alzheimer disease with the hope of filling some of these treatment gaps. The purpose of this Horizon Scan is to present health care stakeholders in Canada with an overview of information related to emerging neuromodulation techniques for the treatment of Alzheimer disease, a description of some of the published evidence, and a summary of some considerations related to operational concerns. Technologies described include deep brain stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial alternating current stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, ultrasound stimulation, electromagnetic stimulation, photobiomodulation, infrared stimulation, and auditory stimulation.