Near-infrared light during sleep to boost brain blood flow and slow Alzheimer's
Official title: Sleep-dependent mechanisms of improving cerebral blood flow and reducing Alzheimer's disease progression by photobiomodulation with near-infrared light
Funded at Boston VA Research Institute, INC. · NIH-11298942 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Seeing if gentle near-infrared light given during deep sleep can improve brain blood flow and slow Alzheimer's progression.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston VA Research Institute, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | May 15, 2023 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $693,773 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG081809-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11298942 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with early-stage Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's who can attend sleep-time treatment sessions would be the best candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Those with advanced Alzheimer's, unstable medical conditions, photosensitivity, or implanted electronic devices may not be eligible or likely to benefit.
What this research studies
You would receive gentle near-infrared light delivered during deep (NREM) sleep aimed to boost blood flow and help clear waste from the Alzheimer's brain. The team plans to use longer-wavelength NIR-II light with slow, low-frequency pulses to reach deeper brain tissue and trigger blood-vessel responses. They will look for increases in nitric oxide-driven vessel dilation, improved glymphatic clearance, and reductions in amyloid and tau in translational models. The work combines laboratory Alzheimer's models with steps toward treatments that could be administered during sleep at clinical sites like the Boston VA.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could improve brain blood flow, enhance clearance of toxic proteins, and slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer's.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies and small human pilot work show promise for photobiomodulation but prior NIR-I approaches had limited brain penetration, so the NIR-II sleep-pulsed approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston VA Research Institute, INC.
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gerashchenko, Dmitry — Boston VA Research Institute, INC.
- Study coordinator: Gerashchenko, Dmitry
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.