BlinkLab

Study with Columbia University on Spinocerebellar Ataxias

Partnership aligns with BlinkLab’s strategy to enhance its AI-powered digital platform for sensory phenotyping and promote global adoption.

BlinkLab Limited (ASX:BB1) (“BlinkLab” or the “Company”), an innovative digital healthcare company developing smartphone-based AI-powered diagnostic tests for neurological disorders, advises it will be participating in a clinical study in patients with spinocerebellar ataxias conducted by Columbia University, New York.


Highlights

  • New study in partnership with Columbia University, New York, to study the effect of aerobic physical exercise on neuroplasticity in adults with spinocerebellar ataxias (“SCA”).
  • Potential to demonstrate that the BlinkLab eyeblink conditioning test can serve as an effective biomarker for neuroplasticity in human SCA patients.
  • Partnership will contribute to global adoption of the BlinkLab platform by world renowned centres and research institutions to study a variety of neurological disorders.
  • Study will continue for up to 18 months and will recruit up to 62 adults with SCA.
  • Collaboration agreement ensures that BlinkLab will have an option to exclusively licence any intellectual property developed as a direct result of the partnership.
Henk-Jan Boele, CEO of BlinkLab commented:

“Since the very first successful test of the BlinkLab platform in the lab at Princeton University, our team’s vision has always been to develop a tool that will someday be considered as a standard of care in the initial diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions where children have difficulties in processing sensory information, such as autism and ADHD. However, as a team of scientists we also envisioned the development of a research platform that would facilitate groundbreaking digital sensory phenotyping in neuropsychiatric conditions in a much broader sense. In the past few months we have made significant progress towards this goal as evident from the adoption rate of our technology among top researchers across a broad range of neuropsychiatric clinical disciplines. We know that research adoption will smoothen clinical adoption. Data generated from these studies will further inform our machine learning training and ensure BlinkLab remains the leader in the field of digital sensory phenotyping in humans.”

What is Spinocerebellar Ataxia?

Spinocerebellar ataxias are a group of disorders in which progressive cerebellar degeneration leads to severe disability and even death. An estimated 150,000 Americans are living with these diseases1, and the average annual healthcare cost to the United States is over 1.9 billion dollars2. There are currently no effective treatments or cures for genetic causes of these diseases. Thus, there is a critical need to find treatments that slow disease progression and allow affected individuals to live more functional lives.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center demonstrated that aerobic training is a promising treatment for spinocerebellar ataxias, but the mechanism of action is not fully understood. Training may increase leg strength and endurance which allow compensation for balance deficits, but may also cause neuroplastic changes in the brain that are of benefit. In fact, long-term aerobic training in healthy individuals has been shown to create a fertile brain environment by increasing expression of plasticity-related genes and growth factors to support subsequent learning.

Prior work with in-person laboratory assessments has shown that individuals with spinocerebellar ataxia have impaired eyeblink conditioning, poor retention of learning, and difficulty increasing learning capacity across multiple training sessions. There are no published studies in humans examining the impact of exercise training on eyeblink conditioning, but a few animal studies have been conducted. Experimental animals that perform aerobic exercise are able to condition (i.e. associative learning tasks) significantly better than sedentary rats.

Dr. Scott Barbuto, Columbia University, commented on the study:

”The current study will investigate the impact of acute and long-term aerobic training on eyeblink conditioning in individuals with spinocerebellar ataxia. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that aerobic training, but not balance training, causes neuroplastic changes in the cerebellum to enhance motor learning. Eyeblink conditioning has had limited use in clinical studies and is used more often in basic science research. Reasons for limited use include: the high cost of the standard equipment setup needed to test eyeblink conditioning and the need for extensive programming and data management skills to acquire and interpret data. Some studies have been conducted on individuals with spinocerebellar ataxia, but sample sizes are typically very small, ranging from 8-24 participants. With the use of BlinkLab, we will be able to test many individuals with ataxia and determine if differences exist between various types. We will also determine if exercise impacts eyeblink conditioning in individuals with ataxia, a topic that has not been investigated to date.”


Click here for the full ASX Release

This article includes content from Blinklab Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.

BB1:AU
BlinkLab Limited

BlinkLab Limited Investor Kit

  • Corporate info
  • Insights
  • Growth strategies
  • Upcoming projects

GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT

The Conversation (0)
BlinkLab Limited

BlinkLab Limited


Keep reading...Show less

Revolutionising Mental Health Care Through Mobile Solutions

US Autism Diagnostic Study Commences with First Child Tested

US Autism Diagnostic Study Commences with First Child Tested

BlinkLab Limited (BB1:AU) has announced US Autism Diagnostic Study Commences with First Child Tested

Download the PDF here.

Hand holding an AI chip.

Global AI Stocks: 9 Biggest Companies in 2025

As the artificial intelligence (AI) market continues to grow, there are many AI stocks for investors to choose from on top exchanges like the NASDAQ, TSX and ASX.

AI technology has made strong inroads into several key industries, including logistics, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, customer service and cybersecurity.

The technology has been around for a long time, but this current wave of buzz comes after the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a generative AI platform. This intelligent chatbot shows how quickly generative AI is advancing, and it has led to many other major tech firms entering the space with their own generative AI offerings or including AI technology into their innovative products.

Keep reading...Show less
RocketBoots

RocketBoots Partners with Global POS Software Vendor to Drive Customer Markets Penetration

Artificial Intelligence software company, RocketBoots Limited (ASX:ROC) (RocketBoots or the Company), is pleased to announce the signing of a partnership agreement with global point-of-sale (POS) vendor, GEBIT Solutions GmbH (Gebit).

Keep reading...Show less
AI chip.

Tech 5: CoreWeave Sets IPO Date, Google to Acquire Wiz

The tech landscape presented a compelling dichotomy this week: company growth juxtaposed with market volatility over concerns that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs could upend global trade and lead to a recession.

“Inflation has started to move up,” US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said after a two day meeting that culminated in the interest rate target remaining between 4.25 and 4.5 percent.

“There may be a delay in further progress over the course of this year,” he added.

Keep reading...Show less
Decidr AI Industries

AWS Strategic Partnership & Equity Raising

Decidr AI Industries Ltd (ASX: DAI) (“the Company”), is pleased to announce that Decidr.ai Pty Ltd (“Decidr”) has engaged in a multi-part strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) to accelerate AI-powered business transformation and the adoption of Decidr Agentic technology.

Keep reading...Show less
"NVIDIA" written on green cube.

Highlights from NVIDIA's GTC 2025 Keynote

At NVIDIA's (NASDAQ:NVDA) GTC 2025, CEO Jensen Huang delivered on his promise to detail the company's latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and hardware.

Key announcements included the Blackwell Ultra AI chip, the next-generation Vera Rubin platform and a glimpse into future product roadmaps.

The keynote emphasized the “tipping point of accelerated computing,” marked by a shift from retrieval to generative AI and driven by a combination of agentic and physical AI.

Keep reading...Show less
BlinkLab Limited

BlinkLab Limited Investor Kit

  • Corporate info
  • Insights
  • Growth strategies
  • Upcoming projects

GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT

Latest Press Releases

Related News

×