Brain gamma rhythm and potential treatment of neurodegenerative disease

In this mini-review, we illustrate the brain network oscillations in different brain areas, including the medial septal diagonal band complex (MSDB) and hippocampus, especially at gamma frequency bands (γ, 30–80 Hz) and theta frequency bands (θ, 4–12 Hz), and their induction and modulation by physical stimulation, such as light and sound, and pharmacological stimulation with agents such as agonists of the kainite subunit ionotropic glutamate receptor, metabotropic glutamate receptor, metabotropic cholinergic receptor, and nicotinic cholinergic receptor. Recent findings demonstrate that boosting gamma oscillations in specific brain areas appears to be able to restore cognitive function and reduce relative pathology in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, exploration of strategies to enhance or restore impaired gamma oscillations may be a new and effective method to improve the conditions in these devastating diseases.