I'm an individual who has designed [1] and built his own tDCS device, downloaded all the PDFs, read them and then designed his own experiment: anode over LDLPFC and cathode above right eye, 20 minutes at 2 mA, while doing Dual-N-Back Workshop [2].<p>I've done between 30 and 40 sessions over a period of three years, still ongoing. The intention was to increase my working memory, but it has also helped with several other minor issues. By my own estimations, my fluid intelligence has gone up significantly, it's really noticeable and I now also score significantly higher on IQ tests.<p>I've combined that with my own nootropics stack and mental exercise regime, which further enhanced my intelligence, now pushing me into genius territory. It's a blessing, that's for sure, I can now much better strategize my life, but there are also some downsides, like an uptick in neurotic behavior.<p>I'm currently working on changing my website, winfred.com [3] to a site that lists all the details of the work I've done on myself. Does anyone think there is value in publishing something like that?<p>[1] <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/tDCS/comments/qn6s5/diy_tdcs_howto/" rel="nofollow">http://www.reddit.com/r/tDCS/comments/qn6s5/diy_tdcs_howto/</a><p>[2] <a href="http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/" rel="nofollow">http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/</a>
[3] <a href="http://winfred.com/" rel="nofollow">http://winfred.com/</a>
It is clear you can damage your brain by having electrical current pass through it, and it has been demonstrated in a bunch of different species (including humans) that electrical charges in the brain are observable when the brain is active. And it has been demonstrated that directly stimulating motor neurons with electricity causes them to 'activate'. So the non-question is whether or not this sort of activity can effect your brain.<p>The question then is can the changes induced by this external stimulus have more positive than negative impact on your brain? That would be easier to answer with a better understanding of <i>how</i> the brain worked (as opposed to what parts of it were active when it was working) but it can certainly be an interesting source of experimentation.<p>What surprises me most about this research is that we have not yet invented 'wire heads' or folks who are addicted to the artificial stimulation of the pleasure cortex of their brain. There is a clear market for such a device, it would not require smuggling any narcotics, and it would seem to be nominally cheap to manufacture. Further, it would seem that finding a way to reliably stimulate the pleasure centers is a much more tractable problem than trying to stimulate memory or intelligence.<p>I keep an eye on this research, I've known too many people with clinical depression for whom existing therapies were unsuccessful in treating that depression, but I expect to see the illicit use appear on the market first, then I'll know we're close to answering the question posed by the article.
Fascinating topic - glad to see it mentioned here. tDCS may be effective in improving working memory [4], treatment of depression [1], pain management [2], improved motor control [3]. You can find out how they work, how to build one, or where to get a commercial product via the r/tdcs FAQ [5].<p>To be fair, it does remind me of Ringworld, where 'wirehead' addicts would starve themselves to remain plugged in. Wild!<p>[1] <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3372849/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3372849/</a><p>[2] <a href="http://www.tmslab.org/publications/164.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.tmslab.org/publications/164.pdf</a><p>[3] <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/10710628_Facilitation_of_implicit_motor_learning_by_weak_transcranial_direct_current_stimulation_of_the_primary_motor_cortex_in_the_human" rel="nofollow">http://www.researchgate.net/publication/10710628_Facilitatio...</a><p>[4] <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51068527_Improving_working_memory_the_effect_of_combining_cognitive_activity_and_anodal_transcranial_direct_current_stimulation_to_the_left_dorsolateral_prefrontal_cortex" rel="nofollow">http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51068527_Improving_w...</a><p>[5] <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/tdcs/wiki/faq" rel="nofollow">http://www.reddit.com/r/tdcs/wiki/faq</a>
Here are some highlights that caught my attention from the article (tl;dr):<p>Imaging the brain first, to target the stimulation to the active region:<p>"The MRN team used this software in part of their DARPA-funded research. First, they imaged volunteers’ brains to see which regions were active as they learned to spot threats. Then they applied 2 milliamps of direct current for 30 minutes to that crucial region – the inferior frontal cortex. They found that stimulation halved the time it took volunteers to learn. This was a huge surprise, says Clark. “Most tDCS studies don’t achieve a huge effect. A lot are borderline.”<p>This is one of the criticisms that has been levelled at tDCS: the results aren’t always that good. Clark is convinced this is because a lot of the studies haven’t involved imaging the brain first, to pinpoint the regions that really need stimulation. “A lot rely on common knowledge about how the brain is meant to be organised. I’ve learned in 33 years of looking at the brain that we still have a lot to learn,” he says. Michael Weisend, who collaborated on the study, agrees – he calls the imaging work “the secret sauce”."<p>Using both excitatory and inhibitory stimulation to increase the effectiveness of training:<p>"Brain imaging suggested that the best way to do this would be to stimulate the motor cortex while the volunteer was doing the task. But McKinley and his team added a twist: after the stimulation, they use tDCS in reverse to inhibit the volunteers’ prefrontal cortex, which is involved in conscious thinking. The day after the stimulation, the volunteers are brought back for re-testing. “The results we’re getting are fantastic,” McKinley says. People getting a hit of both mid-test and inhibitory stimulation did 250 per cent better in their retests, far outperforming those who had received neither. Used in this way, it seems that tDCS can turbo-boost the time it takes for someone to go from being a novice at a task to being an expert."<p>Side-effects seem to be absent from evidence up to this point:<p>"So far, there seem to be no harmful effects of tDCS, at least, not at the levels or durations of stimulation that are routinely used. Weisend believes there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and admits there could be side-effects to tDCS that no one knows about yet."
I'd like to see more concrete detail on the experimental design, to convince myself that this wasn't much more than placebo effect. Additionally, assuming the effect is real, it would be nice to have a concrete and detailed theory for the mechanism through which the effect works.<p>I find myself extremely skeptical of these results.
This article is very shallow. I would rather redirect you to this -> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_1P6v24riU" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_1P6v24riU</a> <- Practical brain boosting in London today. I visited Andrew's lab in Wembley. Very impressive. He is also very fond of old school nootropics. Also see Hacking the Wetware meet-up - <a href="http://www.meetup.com/London-Futurists/events/79975272/" rel="nofollow">http://www.meetup.com/London-Futurists/events/79975272/</a>
UPD: Yes, you can supercharge your brain. It is reprogrammable. But there are costs to cover and risks to take.
(Subscription needed sadly) <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129570.500-healing-spark-hack-body-electricity-to-replace-drugs.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129570.500-healing-s...</a>
Read the dead tree version and it recounts a company who are building implantable devices which can be used to stimulate the vagus nerve to reduce chronic pain.<p>Update - Said corporation : <a href="http://www.electrocoremedical.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.electrocoremedical.com/</a><p>The article from another source :<p><a href="http://www.bodyshox.com/blog/science/body-hack-healing-spark" rel="nofollow">http://www.bodyshox.com/blog/science/body-hack-healing-spark</a>