Would You Zap Your Brain With Electricity To Possibly Make Yourself "Better" At Doing Some Things?
People are constantly trying to make themselves smarter and better and have historically tried weird things to make that happen. But would you strap a battery to your head and shock your brain in order to study better?
Well, that's exactly what some people are doing.
Now, this isn't some crazy electro shock treatment out of a 1950's mental hospital. This specific technique is called transcranial direct current stimulation or tDCS for short. It involves low level electrical currents being directed at a specific part of the brain to potentially solve mood problems, increase language learning ability, and increase focus. The voltage is close to that of a 9-volt battery, so you won't get burnt out spots on your scalp, but it's still something to be careful with.
People, especially college kids, have really jumped on the tDCS wagon. Though reports show promising results, Mark George, professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, warns that those results are still in preliminary stages. And if results from zapping your brain aren't 100% assured, you should probably be careful.
But there's a large community that wants to try tDCS for themselves. Though it's not advised to try this outside of a clinical setting, companies are selling devices to use on your own. ActivaDose, Thync, and Fo.cus charge about $300 for an electrifying headset. For the thriftier user, DIY communities have sprung up to figure out how to hook a battery to their brains.
But what good does this do? Some swear that it makes them more focused and helps them learn faster. tDCS traffic jumps up most right around midterms and finals in college, so students are claiming the electric effects help them out.
Again, Mark George advises against this type of use. So far the data has not shown that it's effective for studying and the safety is not assured. Though college kids feel safe with a $300 electronic headband, those products are not approved by the FDA. Since it's such new technology, there's zero oversight, so you could be spending a lot of money for possible brain damage.
So far, even the good results sound pretty tame. Especially since it involves ELECTROCUTING PART OF YOUR BRAIN!! The fact that so many people are swarming to this technology that's in the very beginning stages of study is a little crazy.
We get it. Of course you want to feel better, sharper, more awake, have better moods. That would be awesome. But directly poking your brain with electric current seems a little extreme for only so so results.
So for now, you may want to stick to coffee and Redbull when you're cramming for exams and wait until the science is 100% before you hook your brain to the electrical socket.
