CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 13, 2026--
Cognito Therapeutics, a clinical-stage neurotechnology company developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative disorders, today announced the presentation of new exploratory biomarker data at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) 2026 highlighting a potential biological mechanism underlying the company's investigational Spectris™ neuromodulation platform.
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The poster presentation, titled “Spectris™ Sensory Stimulation Increases CSF HDL-Like Lipid Transport Proteins in Alzheimer's Disease,” reports exploratory cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteomics findings from the Phase 2 FLICKER study evaluating daily Spectris™ sensory stimulation in patients with amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Using an unbiased, mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis, investigators found that daily Spectris treatment increased CSF levels of multiple HDL-like lipid transport proteins, including APOA1, APOA2 and APOL1. Pathway analysis further demonstrated that 13 of the 29 significantly upregulated biological pathways were associated with lipid transport or metabolism, suggesting a coordinated biological response rather than isolated protein changes.
The analysis also identified significant enrichment of the Oligodendrocyte/Myelination (M36) co-expression module, a pathway associated with myelin integrity and white matter biology. These findings are consistent with previously reported MRI observations from Cognito's OVERTURE feasibility study suggesting preservation of white matter and myelin following Spectris treatment.
“Every new dataset helps us build a more complete understanding of how non-invasive neuromodulation may impact the biology of Alzheimer's disease,” said Christian Howell, Chief Executive Officer, Cognito Therapeutics. “The unbiased identification of coordinated lipid transport and myelination pathways is an encouraging finding that reinforces our scientific hypothesis and expands our understanding of Spectris' potential mechanism of action. Although these analyses are exploratory, they provide an important rationale for evaluating these biomarkers in future clinical studies as we continue advancing a new category of neuroprotective therapies.”
The findings are particularly notable because the lipid transport proteins were identified through an unbiased proteomics screen. APOA1 has previously been associated with Alzheimer's disease biology, with published studies demonstrating an inverse relationship between CSF APOA1 levels and phosphorylated tau (pTau181), further supporting the biological relevance of this pathway.
The exploratory analyses included 10 amyloid-positive MCI participants enrolled in the Phase 2 FLICKER study. Participants received one hour of daily Spectris treatment for either eight weeks or four weeks using a delayed-start design. CSF samples collected at baseline, four weeks and eight weeks were analyzed using unbiased tandem mass spectrometry to characterize treatment-related changes in protein expression. The data support further evaluation of lipid transport and myelination biomarkers as pre-specified endpoints in future, adequately powered clinical trials.
About Cognito Therapeutics
Cognito Therapeutics is a late clinical-stage neurotechnology company pioneering neuroprotective therapies to address the unmet needs of patients living with CNS disorders and support broader brain health. Its lead product, Spectris™, is an investigational at-home neuroprotective therapy platform that uses non-invasive, sensory-driven neurostimulation to evoke gamma frequency brain activity. The company’s feasibility studies have shown the potential for Spectris to preserve cognition, daily function, and slow brain atrophy in patients diagnosed with mild-to-moderate AD. Cognito is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit www.cognitotx.com and follow @cognitotx.
Cognito Spectris-AD investigational device. Image credit: Cognito Therapeutics
Support for Israel is a key component of the religious identity of many Jewish adults ages 45 and older in the United States, but younger Jewish adults are more likely to prioritize other forms of connection, like celebrating Jewish holidays, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
That suggests the generational divide on Israel’s actions since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza extends beyond politics to religious identity.
“I pray for people in the land of Israel. I don’t need to pray for the state,” said Cameron Bernstein, a 27-year-old medical student in New Orleans. She was raised with strong ties to Israel, where she celebrated her bat mitzvah, but said that now “it doesn’t play a role in my life, more than another country with people I love.”
The survey of 1,022 Jewish adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that this split on support for Israel is particularly apparent among adults like her who identify as religiously Jewish. Jewish adults who are religiously unaffiliated but identify as Jewish in other ways tend to have less of an emotional connection to Israel in general.
Among the religiously Jewish adults — who make up 68% of Jewish adults overall — about 6 in 10 say that being Jewish is “extremely” or “very” important in their life, regardless of their age.
But about half of older religious Jewish adults say that supporting Israel is “extremely” or “very” important for their Jewish identity, similar to the percentage who say that about celebrating Jewish holidays. By contrast, only about 4 in 10 younger religious Jewish adults emphasize support for Israel, while about 7 in 10 say celebrating Jewish holidays is highly important.
Susan Boyer, 72, from Southern California, equates supporting Israel with supporting the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland in the Middle East.
Like many other Jewish Americans, the retiree believes Israel is an essential refuge against the possible repetition of large-scale massacres of Jewish people, like the Holocaust, especially as concern about antisemitism rises among Jewish adults.
“I’ve been defending myself as a Jew since I was a child ... getting mugged by girls in my classes for being a Jew,” Boyer said. “It’s invasive into your daily living that you have to constantly, constantly be defending yourself as a Jew, constantly making sure that nobody is redefining you or nobody is like insulting your land.”
To Ari Pollack, a 30-year-old arts fundraiser in Wisconsin, Israel’s military operations — especially in the last few years — provide fodder for antisemitism and thus make everywhere less safe for Jews.
“I’m personally pretty opposed to basically everything Israel’s doing these days,” said Pollack, who grew up attending religious school. “A source of a lot of frustration that I have for the Jewish establishment is that sort of dogmatic teaching of pro-Israel ideas that I’ve had to unlearn as an adult. And it’s part of what’s kept me away from, you know, attending regular synagogue services.”
Like about 3 in 10 religious Jewish adults under 45, Pollack says that Israel has committed genocide during the war in Gaza, a charge that Israel has vehemently denied. That’s compared with about 2 in 10 Jewish adults ages 45 and older.
The poll suggests that other elements of Judaism remain important to many younger Jewish adults. Americans under 45 who identify as religiously Jewish are more likely than older Jewish adults to say that marking or celebrating Shabbat or avoiding certain foods, like pork or shellfish, are highly important to their Jewish identity.
Phoebe Wapnitsky, a 32-year-old in Connecticut, also strongly opposes Israel’s military actions, which she perceives as unaligned with Jewish values.
“Standing against oppression, promoting social justice — those are the roles that Judaism plays in my life,” she said, adding that she felt disconnected from Israel even before the Oct. 7 attack.
Brian Ebarb, a 47-year-old attorney in Louisiana, also says his Jewish identity was about “action and community” — but those include supporting Israel.
“When the government makes mistakes, it should be criticized,” he said, but added that shouldn’t become an excuse for attacking an entire people. “The existence of the state of Israel is so precarious that we have to be careful and not allow criticism of Israel to become criticism of Jews worldwide.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll included interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and the margin of sampling error for Jewish adults is plus or minus 5 percentage points.
FILE - People hold Israeli flags as they hug during Shabbat Services at The Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Oct. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
FILE - A family with Israel flags attends Shabbat services at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach, Fla., Oct. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto, File)
