NeuroSync: a data-driven, music-based augmented reality neurorehabilitation platform of games & puzzles to stimulate neuroplasticity and prolong functional independence in Alzheimer's Disease patients

Abstract Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by adverse neuropathological changes that compromise neural connectivity and the body’s ability to repair brain tissue, obstruct elimination of neural toxins, and inhibit delivery of vital nutrients to the brain. The culmination of this damage is a fatal brain atrophy that destroys the brain’s ability to communicate with the body, robbing its victims of their memories, independence, and identity. Currently, there are no drugs that cure AD, and contemporary medical treatments are largely ineffective for delaying the disease. However, recent insights in AD pathogenesis suggest therapies that enhance plasticity in neural circuits will be key to future treatments that slow and/or reverse its progression. As a result, there is rising momentum for evidence-based methods that stimulate neuroplasticity, coupled with treatment approaches that leverage this neurobiological phenomenon to support healthy longevity in AD patients. Notably, Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) offers one such approach by using the neuroscience of music to design tailored therapeutic interventions that stimulate neuroplasticity and target measurable improvements in functional independence and quality of life, and shows promise of revolutionizing next-generation AD treatments. Informed by these considerations, Outlier is developing NeuroSync: a data-driven, NMT-based augmented reality (AR) neurorehabilitation platform which will improve the ability of clinicians, therapists, and caregivers to offer affordable, personalized neurological care to AD patients. NeuroSync features a structured program of immersive, evidence-informed neurorehabilitative games, puzzles, and exercises that use analytics captured on the user’s performance and interactions with musical movement to adapt the interventions in response to the user’s evolving medical needs and abilities. This innovative system is rationally designed to combine nostalgia, music creation, movement, bioinformatics, and machine learning (ML) to allow AD patients to instantly harness the therapeutic benefits of creating music from body motion, on day 1. NeuroSync delivers a groundbreaking neurorehabilitative platform that bridges the gap between therapies typically administered by trained practitioners in clinical settings with those that can be safely used at-home, as users “play” their way to better health. In Phase I, Outlier successfully demonstrated proof-of-concept for NeuroSync with feasibility testing of 1st gen prototypes of its patent pending “smart instrument” The Human Element (THE) and 6 neurorehabilitative interventions. In phase II, we will continue this work by developing a 2nd gen version of THE, expanding its musicality with ML and broadening computer vision training for more inclusive activity recognition and intuitive mappings. We will then optimize the Phase I interventions and develop 5 new adaptive interventions with greater therapeutic range that support a broader array of user musical preferences, motion capabilities, and healthy longevity goals. Finally, we will develop a web and desktop app for the 2nd gen NeuroSync, with usability testing to optimize performance prior to a 4-month pilot study to gather evidence of its potential efficacy with AD patients.