Electric Currents Boost Brain Power

[Guest guest]

another good article on the topic ...

Connecting a battery across the front of the head can boost verbal

skills, says a team from the US National Institutes of Health.

 

A current of two thousandths of an ampere (a fraction of that needed

to power a digital watch) applied for 20 minutes is enough to

produce a significant improvement, according to data presented this

week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in

San Diego. And apart from an itchy sensation around the scalp

electrode, subjects in the trials reported no side-effects.

 

Meenakshi Iyer of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders

and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, ran the current through 103

initially nervous volunteers. " I had to explain it in detail to the

first one or two subjects, " she says. But once she had convinced

them that the current was harmless, Iyer says, recruitment was not a

problem.

 

The volunteers were asked to name as many words as possible

beginning with a particular letter. Given around 90 seconds, most

people get around 20 words. But when Iyer administered the current,

her volunteers were able to name around 20% more words than

controls, who had the electrodes attached but no current delivered.

A smaller current of one thousandth of an amp had no effect.

 

Trigger happy

 

Iyer says more work needs to be done to explain the effect, but she

speculates that the current changes the electrical properties of

brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, the brain region through which

it passes. She believes that the cells fire off signals more easily

after the current has gone by. That would make the brain area, a

region involved in word generation, generally more active, she

suggests.

 

Iyer's group, which is led by Eric Wassermann, was prompted to run

the tests after considering problems facing researchers who were

studying the effect of magnetic fields on the brain. Some

neuroscientists hope that magnetic fields could have a therapeutic

effect, perhaps by boosting activity in areas of the brain that have

suffered cell loss owing to dementia. But magnetic fields can cause

seizures and also require bulky equipment to generate them.

 

Iyer hopes that low electric currents will offer a safer and more

portable alternative. After running further safety tests, she plans

to test the effect of the current on patients with frontal temporal

dementia, a brain disease that causes speech problems. " This won't

be a cure, " Iyer cautions. " But it could be used in addition to

drugs. "

 

The idea of using electrical current to boost brain activity dates

back to experiments on animals in the 1950s. The early work showed

some potential, but fell from favour because of a perceived link to

electroconvulsive therapy, a controversial technique in which

patients with depression are treated by having short but intense

pulses of electricity applied to the brain.

 

©2004 Nature Publishing Group

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041025/full/041025-9.html and

http://rense.com/general59/boost.htm

 

Dan

[Guest guest]

Hi Dan,

This is really interesting do you know is this something we could do

ourselves? If yes do you know how one would go about doing it?

Thanks Debbie

 

 

, " Dan "

<granadahills2002> wrote:

>

> another good article on the topic ...

> Connecting a battery across the front of the head can boost verbal

> skills, says a team from the US National Institutes of Health.

>

> A current of two thousandths of an ampere (a fraction of that

needed

> to power a digital watch) applied for 20 minutes is enough to

> produce a significant improvement, according to data presented

this

> week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held

in

> San Diego. And apart from an itchy sensation around the scalp

> electrode, subjects in the trials reported no side-effects.

>

> Meenakshi Iyer of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders

> and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, ran the current through 103

> initially nervous volunteers. " I had to explain it in detail to

the

> first one or two subjects, " she says. But once she had convinced

> them that the current was harmless, Iyer says, recruitment was not

a

> problem.

>

> The volunteers were asked to name as many words as possible

> beginning with a particular letter. Given around 90 seconds, most

> people get around 20 words. But when Iyer administered the

current,

> her volunteers were able to name around 20% more words than

> controls, who had the electrodes attached but no current

delivered.

> A smaller current of one thousandth of an amp had no effect.

>

> Trigger happy

>

> Iyer says more work needs to be done to explain the effect, but

she

> speculates that the current changes the electrical properties of

> brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, the brain region through

which

> it passes. She believes that the cells fire off signals more

easily

> after the current has gone by. That would make the brain area, a

> region involved in word generation, generally more active, she

> suggests.

>

> Iyer's group, which is led by Eric Wassermann, was prompted to run

> the tests after considering problems facing researchers who were

> studying the effect of magnetic fields on the brain. Some

> neuroscientists hope that magnetic fields could have a therapeutic

> effect, perhaps by boosting activity in areas of the brain that

have

> suffered cell loss owing to dementia. But magnetic fields can

cause

> seizures and also require bulky equipment to generate them.

>

> Iyer hopes that low electric currents will offer a safer and more

> portable alternative. After running further safety tests, she

plans

> to test the effect of the current on patients with frontal

temporal

> dementia, a brain disease that causes speech problems. " This won't

> be a cure, " Iyer cautions. " But it could be used in addition to

> drugs. "

>

> The idea of using electrical current to boost brain activity dates

> back to experiments on animals in the 1950s. The early work showed

> some potential, but fell from favour because of a perceived link

to

> electroconvulsive therapy, a controversial technique in which

> patients with depression are treated by having short but intense

> pulses of electricity applied to the brain.

>

> ©2004 Nature Publishing Group

> http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041025/full/041025-9.html and

> http://rense.com/general59/boost.htm

>

> Dan

[Guest guest]

From what I've heard Beck's Brain Tuner is helpful when it comes to

that type of stuff but I haven't used it so check with the list

members .

Dan

 

, " devorah91 "

<devorah888@s...> wrote:

>

> Hi Dan,

> This is really interesting do you know is this something we could

do

> ourselves? If yes do you know how one would go about doing it?

> Thanks Debbie

>

>

> , " Dan "

> <granadahills2002> wrote:

> >

> > another good article on the topic ...

> > Connecting a battery across the front of the head can boost

verbal

> > skills, says a team from the US National Institutes of Health.

> >

> > A current of two thousandths of an ampere (a fraction of that

> needed

> > to power a digital watch) applied for 20 minutes is enough to

> > produce a significant improvement, according to data presented

> this

> > week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held

> in

> > San Diego. And apart from an itchy sensation around the scalp

> > electrode, subjects in the trials reported no side-effects.

> >

> > Meenakshi Iyer of the National Institute of Neurological

Disorders

> > and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, ran the current through 103

> > initially nervous volunteers. " I had to explain it in detail to

> the

> > first one or two subjects, " she says. But once she had convinced

> > them that the current was harmless, Iyer says, recruitment was

not

> a

> > problem.

> >

> > The volunteers were asked to name as many words as possible

> > beginning with a particular letter. Given around 90 seconds,

most

> > people get around 20 words. But when Iyer administered the

> current,

> > her volunteers were able to name around 20% more words than

> > controls, who had the electrodes attached but no current

> delivered.

> > A smaller current of one thousandth of an amp had no effect.

> >

> > Trigger happy

> >

> > Iyer says more work needs to be done to explain the effect, but

> she

> > speculates that the current changes the electrical properties of

> > brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, the brain region through

> which

> > it passes. She believes that the cells fire off signals more

> easily

> > after the current has gone by. That would make the brain area, a

> > region involved in word generation, generally more active, she

> > suggests.

> >

> > Iyer's group, which is led by Eric Wassermann, was prompted to

run

> > the tests after considering problems facing researchers who were

> > studying the effect of magnetic fields on the brain. Some

> > neuroscientists hope that magnetic fields could have a

therapeutic

> > effect, perhaps by boosting activity in areas of the brain that

> have

> > suffered cell loss owing to dementia. But magnetic fields can

> cause

> > seizures and also require bulky equipment to generate them.

> >

> > Iyer hopes that low electric currents will offer a safer and

more

> > portable alternative. After running further safety tests, she

> plans

> > to test the effect of the current on patients with frontal

> temporal

> > dementia, a brain disease that causes speech problems. " This

won't

> > be a cure, " Iyer cautions. " But it could be used in addition to

> > drugs. "

> >

> > The idea of using electrical current to boost brain activity

dates

> > back to experiments on animals in the 1950s. The early work

showed

> > some potential, but fell from favour because of a perceived link

> to

> > electroconvulsive therapy, a controversial technique in which

> > patients with depression are treated by having short but intense

> > pulses of electricity applied to the brain.

> >

> > ©2004 Nature Publishing Group

> > http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041025/full/041025-9.html and

> > http://rense.com/general59/boost.htm

> >

> > Dan