Noninvasive 40-Hz light flicker to recruit microglia and reduce amyloid beta load

Microglia, the primary immune cells of the brain, play a key role in pathological and normal brain function. Growing efforts aim to reveal how these cells may be harnessed to treat both neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and developmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. We recently showed that using noninvasive exposure to 40-Hz white-light (4,000 K) flicker to drive 40-Hz neural activity transforms microglia into an engulfing state and reduces amyloid beta, a peptide thought to initiate neurotoxic events in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This article describes how to construct an LED-based light-flicker apparatus, expose animals to 40-Hz flicker and control conditions, and perform downstream assays to study the effects of these stimuli. Light flicker is simple, faster to implement, and noninvasive, as compared with driving 40-Hz activity using optogenetics; however, it does not target specific cell types, as is achievable with optogenetics. This noninvasive approach to driving 40-Hz neural activity should enable further research into the interactions between neural activity, molecular pathology, and the brain’s immune system. Construction of the light-flicker system requires ~1 d and some electronics experience or available guidance. The flicker manipulation and assessment can be completed in a few days, depending on the experimental design.