Could Electric Shocks Increase Brain Power?

A report suggests that a new technology that uses electric currents could help people with ADHD, depression, and Parkinson’s.

16:52 30 March 2015

Scientists at the University of Oxford are conducting experiments to find out if using a new technology that uses electric currents can enhance brainpower and help people with ADHD, depression, and Parkinson’s. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) works by sending weak electric currents through the scalp to stimulate the neurons in the brain. 

 

Dr Roi Cohen Kadosh, the senior scientist at the University of Oxford's Department of Experimental Psychology, who is leading the project, said his findings were promising.

 

"The research so far shows that when we use tDCS you can, in some cases, improve performance.” 

 

"It depends on several parameters like the type of the current that you deliver, where you put the electrodes on your head and the timing of the stimulation."

 

Meanwhile, Dr Hannah Maslen, an ethicist at the University of Oxford, said the market for such products needed to be monitored.

 

"We think direct-to-consumer devices should be regulated in the same way that medical devices are," she said.

 

"They are currently not regulated, simply because they do not make treatment claims. It isn't because we think they should be prohibited or restricted, per say, but that we think that consumers should be protected."