New Brain-Mapping Tech Aims to Revolutionize CNS Drug Trials

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – January 06, 2026 – A breakthrough in neuroscience technology may hold the key to unlocking a new era of treatments for complex brain disorders. Cumulus Neuroscience, a brain health technology firm, has published pivotal data in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports validating a non-invasive, scalable method for measuring neuroplasticity—the brain's fundamental ability to adapt and reorganize itself. This development addresses a long-standing obstacle in clinical trials and could significantly accelerate the development of therapies for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and depression.

The study confirms that a brief assessment using a wireless, dry-sensor electroencephalography (EEG) headset can reliably measure changes in brain activity, providing an objective biomarker for how a potential drug is affecting brain function. This innovation moves a critical measurement tool from highly controlled, burdensome laboratory settings into the practical reality of multi-site clinical trials.

The Bottleneck in Brain Drug Development

The landscape of drug development for central nervous system (CNS) disorders is notoriously challenging, marked by high attrition rates and staggering costs. A primary reason for these failures is the lack of reliable, objective biomarkers to gauge whether a drug is engaging its target in the brain. For decades, researchers have relied on subjective patient questionnaires or clinician-rated scales, which can be inconsistent and slow to show treatment effects.

At the core of many CNS conditions are deficits in neuroplasticity, the brain's capacity to form new neural pathways in response to learning, experience, or recovery from injury. This makes neuroplasticity a key target for new therapies. However, measuring it directly in humans has been fraught with difficulty. Pre-clinical animal models often use invasive intracranial EEG, a method unsuitable for human trials. The non-invasive alternative, conventional wet-EEG, has been the gold standard for data quality but is impractical for large-scale studies. It requires a trained technician to apply a conductive gel and abrasive paste to the scalp, a time-consuming and uncomfortable process that limits its use in frequent, longitudinal assessments.

Furthermore, even when using high-quality EEG, the reliability of measuring neuroplasticity effects at the individual participant level has been historically disappointing, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about a drug's efficacy in early-stage trials. This has created a critical bottleneck, preventing promising compounds from demonstrating their potential early in the development pipeline.

A Non-Invasive Window into Brain Plasticity

Cumulus Neuroscience aims to shatter this bottleneck with its NeuLogiq® Platform. The system combines a quick-setup, dry-sensor EEG headset—which received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2023—with sophisticated analytical software. Unlike wet EEG, the dry headset can be applied in minutes without gel or scalp preparation, making it ideal for use across multiple clinical sites and even for at-home monitoring.

The company's validated method uses a brief visual evoked potential (VEP) assessment, where a participant views a simple visual pattern on a screen while their brain's electrical response is recorded. The key innovation lies not just in the hardware, but in the analysis. The company applies advanced multiscale frequency-domain analyses, including a wavelet-based technique, to the collected data. This novel approach substantially improves the test-retest reliability of the neuroplasticity measurement, overcoming the historical limitations of VEP assessments.

"This study demonstrates that it is possible to measure neuroplasticity reliably in real-world clinical environments using a non-invasive, low-burden, scalable approach," said Brian Murphy, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Cumulus Neuroscience. "Our findings open the door to incorporating objective plasticity measures into early-phase CNS drug development, which could accelerate progress in treating neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. By combining a brief VEP modulation paradigm with advanced frequency-domain analyses, we achieved meaningful improvements in reliability without increasing participant and clinical site burden. This is a critical step toward making neuroplasticity assessments practical for multi-site trials."

Validated in a Real-World Clinical Setting

To prove the technology's viability, the VEP assessment was deployed in a study involving 50 healthy participants across two U.S.-based clinical trial units. The results, published in Scientific Reports, showed robust group-level effects, demonstrating that the tool could successfully detect neuroplastic changes. Critically, the test/retest reliability of the recorded VEP waveforms approached that of far more burdensome, full-length assessments using traditional lab-quality wet-EEG hardware.

This validation in a practical clinical environment is what sets the development apart. It proves the system is not just a laboratory curiosity but a tool ready for the rigors of pharmaceutical research.

"The ability to capture valid VEPs in clinical studies with easy-to-deploy technology and short sessions has the potential to transform how we assess the efficacy of new therapies in this space," commented Dr. David Walling, Chief Clinical Officer for CenExel-CNS and the study's Principal Investigator. "Historically, we have not had a way to directly measure neuroplasticity outside of animal models which require invasive techniques. We can now integrate non-invasive VEP measures into clinical study workflows, providing sponsors with objective biomarkers of target engagement and treatment effects early in development."

Reshaping the Future of CNS Treatment

The implications of this validated technology extend far beyond a single study. By providing an objective, scalable biomarker, Cumulus Neuroscience's platform could de-risk the entire CNS drug development process. Pharmaceutical companies can get an earlier, clearer signal on whether a drug is working as intended, allowing them to make faster "go/no-go" decisions and design more efficient, targeted trials. This could help reverse the trend of major pharmaceutical firms exiting the challenging CNS space.

Evidence of industry interest is already strong. Cumulus was formed in collaboration with top pharmaceutical companies and maintains a paid-in Pharma Advisory Group that includes ten industry giants such as Biogen, Pfizer, Lilly, Merck, and Roche. Several of these partners are already using the NeuLogiq® Platform in studies for conditions ranging from Alzheimer's Disease to depression and schizophrenia.

In the long term, the ability to objectively measure neuroplasticity could pave the way for more personalized medicine. By identifying which patients show the greatest plastic response to a given therapy, clinicians could one day tailor treatments to individuals, dramatically improving outcomes. For the millions of people worldwide affected by devastating brain disorders, this ability to more effectively develop and target new therapies offers a renewed sense of hope.