Neu­rons in the brain trans­mit infor­ma­tion by exchang­ing elec­tri­cal and chem­i­cal sig­nals. What would hap­pen if these elec­tri­cal sig­nals were trans­formed by apply­ing an exter­nal cur­rent? Could this help boost brain functions?

In this arti­cle, Tran­scra­nial direct cur­rent stim­u­la­tion (tDCS) is reported to help peo­ple solve brain-teasers. In the study weak cur­rents altered the activ­ity of neu­rons in the ante­rior tem­po­ral lobes through elec­trodes on the scalp. Read more

In this other arti­cle another tech­nique was used: Tran­scra­nial mag­netic stim­u­la­tion (TMS). TMS works by gen­er­at­ing a mag­netic field that passes the scalp and the skull. In the study an exploratory use of TMS com­bined with cog­ni­tive train­ing was tested for a few months on 8 Alzheimer’s patients. The results were promis­ing. Read more

Finally, this arti­cle reports the use of a dif­fer­ent, more inva­sive tech­nique: deep brain stim­u­la­tion (DBS). In DBS a sur­geon directly implants elec­trodes in spe­cific parts of the brain. In the study, an area of the fornix (a region impor­tant in mem­ory func­tion) of the brains of 6 patients suf­fer­ing from Alzheimer’s Dis­ease was stim­u­lated. After one year of reg­u­lar stim­u­la­tion, the cog­ni­tive func­tions of 3 of the 6 patients dete­ri­o­rated less than expected. Read more

Related posts:

• Brain struc­tures: All you need to know
• A Brain Teaser for each Cog­ni­tive Ability

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