http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2092704/500-electric-shock-machine-boost-learning-memory--scientists-worry-misused.html
£500 electric shock machine can boost learning and memory - but scientists
worry it could be misused
By Katie Silver
Last updated at 2:50 PM on 27th January 2012
a..
b..
a..
b..
c..
Researchers have found brain stimulation via small electric shocks can boost
memory and learning
A machine which stimulates your brain with tiny electric shocks can improve
memory, problem-solving and mathematical abilities, psychologists have found.
But Oxford University researchers have warned that the machine could spell
trouble if it gets into the wrong hands or is used incorrectly, especially when
it comes to children whose brains are still developing.
While the brain-stimulation technique has been previously used to treat
cognitive impairment, new research shows it can also boost mental abilities
among healthy adults.
Dr Roi Cohen Kadosh, a neuroscientist, uses a high-tech system called
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to stimulate precise regions of
the brain with a tiny buzz of electric current.
When he stimulates the parietal lobes, which are responsible for our skills in
reading, writing and numeracy, he can boost mathematical skills.
The electric current triggers the area to produce chemicals that cause brain
cells to develop or change. This process — ‘neural plasticity’ — is essential
to learning (our brains change structure when we take on new information).
More...
a.. Did bonobos actually tame themselves? Scientists find that the African
apes evolved to become gentler creatures
When Dr Cohen Kadosh’s subjects had their parietal lobes stimulated for 30
minutes every day for a week, they were able to pick up maths skills through
conventional lessons far more quickly and effectively than they could before.
‘It’s completely safe. The electric current is one thousand times lower than
anything that could cause damage,’ he says.
Tests have shown that the subjects’ maths abilities remain boosted six months
after the treatment. To someone as numerically illiterate as me, the prospect
of growing a ‘maths brain’ is exciting. But Dr Cohen Kadosh’s work is at the
vanguard of a medical revolution.
With very little known on the side effects of shocking the brain, vulnerable
users could be exploited or even worse, have disrupted, atypical brain
development
It heralds a high-tech world of brain medicine where electronics will be used
to repair deep faults, such as depression and Parkinson’s, modify problem
personalities and boost everyone’s ability to learn, remember and think
creatively.
Already a number of home ‘brain-fixers’ are available to buy. These generally
work in the same way as Cohen Kadosh’s machine and are sold on the web in the
U.S. (though their effectiveness is doubtful).
Still the psychologist, writing in the journal Current Biology, warns against
the potential dangers of the technology.
Dr Roi Cohen Kadosh has warned that the device could be very dangerous if used
incorrectly
Given the devices are relatively cheap (£500) and portable and there are no
laws governing their use, they could be severely misused.
The researchers say: ‘When used within suggested guidelines, the acute safety
risks (of seizures, for example) seem very low. There is a danger that it can
be tried out ad hoc on adults and children — especially on vulnerable patient
groups seeking help with serious and currently intractable developmental
disorders
He said not enough is known on side effects and there are no training programs
for administering the device.
‘At best, this situation could result in the exploitation of vulnerable
patients or parents for financial gain; at worst, it may risk long-term damage
to the brain and exacerbate the disadvantage, potentially worsening other
psychological functions.
It is especially problematic when it comes to using the device on children
where misuse could not only worsen performance but could lead to ‘atypical
brain development.’
‘Like other types of atypical experience during sensitive periods, the
stimulation of the wrong brain area might induce abnormal patterns of brain
activity in this brain region and interconnected areas, and increase metabolic
consumption in brain areas that are irrelevant to the specific psychological
function.
‘Hence, research into the safety and potential hazards of TDCS in children is
urgently needed.’
It is also dangerous in terms of how the different parts of the brain interact:
‘Highly-developed capacities in certain cognitive domains in some individuals
are accompanied by reduced functioning in others.
'It would be premature to allow children, or their parents, to make the choices
that lead to higher functioning in one domain (such as language) at a cost to
functioning in other valuable domains (such as face recognition).’
For this reason, he suggests that parents should perhaps be banned from using
the device.
‘If TDCS does enhance some abilities at a cost to others, then assessing its
ethical permissibility will involve weighing its costs and benefits,’ he said.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2092704/500-electric-shock-machine-boost-learning-memory--scientists-worry-misused.html#ixzz1ksPjZZxt
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
