{"article_number":"e0332310","date_published":"2025-10-07T00:00:00Z","title":"Exploring neural entrainment and synchrony in response to repeated 60 Hz flickering white light in healthy volunteers","external_id":{"pmid":["41056352 "]},"author":[{"full_name":"Alamalhoda, MohammadAmin","first_name":"MohammadAmin","last_name":"Alamalhoda"},{"first_name":"Friederike","full_name":"Leesch, Friederike","last_name":"Leesch"},{"last_name":"Giovanetti","first_name":"Francesca","full_name":"Giovanetti, Francesca"},{"last_name":"Dunne","full_name":"Dunne, Eoghan","first_name":"Eoghan"},{"last_name":"Pilloni","full_name":"Pilloni, Giuseppina","first_name":"Giuseppina"},{"last_name":"Caffrey","full_name":"Caffrey, Mark","first_name":"Mark"},{"last_name":"O’Keeffe","full_name":"O’Keeffe, Jack","first_name":"Jack"},{"id":"41CB84B2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","last_name":"Venturino","orcid":"0000-0003-2356-9403","full_name":"Venturino, Alessandro","first_name":"Alessandro"},{"last_name":"Ferretti","full_name":"Ferretti, Maria Teresa","first_name":"Maria Teresa"}],"oa_version":"Published Version","month":"10","quality_controlled":"1","article_processing_charge":"Yes","article_type":"original","ddc":["570"],"file_date_updated":"2026-02-17T12:16:18Z","citation":{"apa":"Alamalhoda, M., Leesch, F., Giovanetti, F., Dunne, E., Pilloni, G., Caffrey, M., … Ferretti, M. T. (2025). Exploring neural entrainment and synchrony in response to repeated 60 Hz flickering white light in healthy volunteers. <i>PLOS One</i>. Public Library of Science. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332310\">https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332310</a>","short":"M. Alamalhoda, F. Leesch, F. Giovanetti, E. Dunne, G. Pilloni, M. Caffrey, J. O’Keeffe, A. Venturino, M.T. Ferretti, PLOS One 20 (2025).","mla":"Alamalhoda, MohammadAmin, et al. “Exploring Neural Entrainment and Synchrony in Response to Repeated 60 Hz Flickering White Light in Healthy Volunteers.” <i>PLOS One</i>, vol. 20, no. 10, e0332310, Public Library of Science, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332310\">10.1371/journal.pone.0332310</a>.","ama":"Alamalhoda M, Leesch F, Giovanetti F, et al. Exploring neural entrainment and synchrony in response to repeated 60 Hz flickering white light in healthy volunteers. <i>PLOS One</i>. 2025;20(10). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332310\">10.1371/journal.pone.0332310</a>","ieee":"M. Alamalhoda <i>et al.</i>, “Exploring neural entrainment and synchrony in response to repeated 60 Hz flickering white light in healthy volunteers,” <i>PLOS One</i>, vol. 20, no. 10. Public Library of Science, 2025.","ista":"Alamalhoda M, Leesch F, Giovanetti F, Dunne E, Pilloni G, Caffrey M, O’Keeffe J, Venturino A, Ferretti MT. 2025. Exploring neural entrainment and synchrony in response to repeated 60 Hz flickering white light in healthy volunteers. PLOS One. 20(10), e0332310.","chicago":"Alamalhoda, MohammadAmin, Friederike Leesch, Francesca Giovanetti, Eoghan Dunne, Giuseppina Pilloni, Mark Caffrey, Jack O’Keeffe, Alessandro Venturino, and Maria Teresa Ferretti. “Exploring Neural Entrainment and Synchrony in Response to Repeated 60 Hz Flickering White Light in Healthy Volunteers.” <i>PLOS One</i>. Public Library of Science, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332310\">https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332310</a>."},"DOAJ_listed":"1","abstract":[{"text":"Flickering light is a new promising, fully non-invasive brain stimulation technique that utilizes intermittent sensory stimulation to induce brainwave synchronization (entrainment). While the effects of 40 Hz externally induced neural entrainment have been extensively described, little is known about 60 Hz entrainment in humans. This study presents preliminary observations on the neural and somatic response to flickering 60 Hz light in healthy volunteers over a 3-week period. Fourteen volunteers were randomized to receive either 60 Hz flickering white light or constant light as sham (30-min sessions, 3 weeks, 5 days/week on weekdays). Neural entrainment was assessed with EEG on days 1, 5 and 19. Salivary cortisol and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, measured with ELISA, assessed the somatic response to stimulation. Side effects and well-being were monitored via questionnaires. EEG recordings showed neural entrainment and synchrony in response to 60 Hz flickering light across multiple cortical regions, including occipital, central, temporal, and frontal areas. The entrainment power and synchronization between different cortical regions declined significantly by day 19 compared to day 1, indicating possible neural habituation. Cortisol and CRP salivary levels were unchanged, and minor side effects were reported with equal frequency in the active and sham groups. Our findings show that 60 Hz flickering light can induce significant neural entrainment and synchrony in healthy adults and is well tolerated. The decline in entrainment strength and neural synchrony observed with repeated 60 Hz stimulations suggests plastic changes in the cortex. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize neural and somatic responses to repeated 60 Hz flickering visual stimuli. Given the well-known connection between 60 Hz brain oscillations and cognition, neuroplasticity, and their role in neuropsychiatric disorders, additional research in both preclinical and clinical settings is warranted.","lang":"eng"}],"doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0332310","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"acknowledgement":"This study was funded by Syntropic Medical and supported by an Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) grant (grant number P2414247 to Syntropic Medical). Syntropic Medical employees were involved in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, and preparation of the manuscript. AWS had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","tmp":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","short":"CC BY (4.0)","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","image":"/images/cc_by.png"},"year":"2025","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1932-6203"]},"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","related_material":{"link":[{"url":"https://github.com/AminAlam/HVS","relation":"software"}]},"OA_type":"gold","publication_status":"published","_id":"21245","file":[{"file_size":1388424,"access_level":"open_access","creator":"dernst","date_created":"2026-02-17T12:16:18Z","checksum":"22a4e92a733152633c4553f107f66765","success":1,"file_id":"21301","relation":"main_file","file_name":"2025_PlosOne_Alamalhoda.pdf","content_type":"application/pdf","date_updated":"2026-02-17T12:16:18Z"}],"date_created":"2026-02-16T15:29:26Z","publication":"PLOS One","issue":"10","PlanS_conform":"1","publisher":"Public Library of Science","pmid":1,"has_accepted_license":"1","volume":20,"date_updated":"2026-02-17T12:19:15Z","status":"public","OA_place":"publisher","day":"07","department":[{"_id":"SaSi"}],"intvolume":"        20","type":"journal_article","oa":1}