Sinaptica Therapeutics presented year-long data at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC 2026) in London on a personalized, non-invasive brain stimulation device tested in people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Patients on active treatment saw their cognitive and functional decline slowed by 44 percent compared with sham controls over 52 weeks.
The result is a Phase 2 finding, not an approved treatment. Only 32 patients completed the full year in the randomized, single-site trial, and Sinaptica plans to test the device in a much larger Phase 3 study of roughly 300 patients.
The device, called SinaptiStim, delivers repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. A painless magnetic pulse is aimed at the precuneus, a hub in the parietal region that helps run the default mode network. That circuit, involved in memory and self-reflection, is disrupted early in Alzheimer's.
How the personalized approach works
Each patient's treatment is calibrated with EEG and an MRI-guided navigation system. That combination lets clinicians measure how the individual brain responds and fine-tune the pulse's location and strength for that person. Patients received a 20-minute session five days a week for the first two weeks, followed by one 20-minute session a week for the rest of the year.
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The primary endpoint was the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes, or CDR-SB, a widely used measure of cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer's. Patients on active treatment worsened by 1.36 points on average over 52 weeks, compared with 2.45 points in the sham group. That gap translates to a 44 percent slower rate of decline.
Secondary measures also favored the active group. Treated patients showed statistically significant improvements on the ADAS-Cog and MMSE cognitive scales and on a scale that tracks behavioral symptoms. Their ability to perform daily activities, tracked with the ADCS-ADL scale, was nearly unchanged after a year. The company reported no serious side effects.
What was published, and what comes next
Sinaptica published the full data set in the peer-reviewed journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy under the title "Effects of 52 weeks of precuneus rTMS in Alzheimer's disease patients: a randomized trial." At AAIC 2026, the company highlighted that the durability of the effect held across cognition, daily function and behavior.
Real-world context matters. The trial ran at a single center, the sample size is modest, and the study did not track amyloid or tau biomarkers. Those limitations are what the planned Phase 3 study is designed to address, with real-time TMS-EEG re-calibration and biomarker readouts for beta-amyloid, phosphorylated tau, neuroinflammation and synaptic function across a much larger patient group.
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For families dealing with Alzheimer's today, SinaptiStim is not something a neurologist can prescribe. It carries an FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, which means the agency has agreed the technology may offer a meaningful advantage over existing options and is fast-tracking its review. Anyone with memory concerns or symptoms should talk to their doctor about currently approved options and about clinical trials that may be enrolling.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.