Effect of 40hz Light Flicker on Cognitive Impairment and Transcriptome of Hippocampus in Right Unilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion Mice

Abstract

Abstract Vascular cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) seriously affects the living quality in elderly patients. However, there has been no effective treatment to control this disease. This study investigated the potential neuroprotective effect of the 40hz light flicker in a mouse model of CCH. CCH was induced in male C57 mice by right unilateral common carotid artery occlusion (rUCCAO), leading to chronic brain injury. The mice underwent 40hz light flicker stimulation for 30 days after surgery. The results showed that 40hz light flicker treatment ameliorated the memory deficits after rUCCAO and alleviated the damage to neurons in the frontal lobe and hippocampus. Light flicker administration at 40hz decreased IL-1β and TNF-α levels in the frontal lobe and hippocampus, although immunohistochemistry found that it did not exert angiogenesis in mice with rUCCAO. Gene expression profiling revealed that the induction of genes was mainly enriched in inflammatory-related pathways. Our findings demonstrate that 40hz light flicker can suppress cognitive impairment caused by rUCCAO and that this effect is may be invovled in the attenuation of neuroinflammation.