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Electric shock on brain improves brain maths skill

Published

11 years ago

March 4, 2014

Story:
If you electrically shock a person’s brain their maths skills will
significantly improve during the subsequent 6 months.
Other Versions
Want to improve your Math skills without working hard? Simply
zap the brain with a weak current of electricity and voila, all your
(math) problems will be solved.
Fact.
Analysis:
The messages claim that one can significantly improve their brain
activity and maths skills by a simple electric shock of weak current.
It is a fact, but has to be strictly done under the guidance of expert
doctors.
The process is called Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
(tDCS) and involves applying weak electrical currents (low DC
current) to a person’s head via skalp electrodes. This generates an
electromagnetic field that modulates (regulates) the activity of brain
neurons. The changes in brain activity depends on the polarity of
stimulation, i.e orientation of the electric field to the brain neurons.
The positive Anodal (+) stimulation causes a depolarization of the
resting membrane potential, thereby increasing the neuronal
excitability, which allows for more spontaneous cell firing. When
negative Cathodal (-) stimulation is delivered, it causes a
hyperpolarization of the resting membrane potential, which decreases
the neuron excitability because of decreased spontaneous cell firing.
Numerous studies on tDCS verify that use of low-intensity
transcranial stimulation is safe for humans and has only rare and
relatively minor adverse effects. tDCS is believed to be more
effective when used in conjunction with fMRI, transcranial
magnetic stimulation (TMS) or centrally acting drugs. An extensive
study on this Cranial Electrotherapy done by a scientific team
comprising of US Mind Research found that tDCS guided using
fMRI significantly accelerated the learning process of identifying
concealed objects. The study found that tDCS applied over right
inferior frontal and right parietal cortex parts of the human brain
resulted in up to two-fold improvement in learning and
performance. The scientists also believe that tDCS guided using
neuroimaging can be helpful in reducing the training time for a
variety of complex skills.
Another study done by scientists from the University of Oxford has
shown that transcranial stimulation can improve a person’s math
abilities for up to six months. The study consisted of patients who
were on TDCS, and they showed an improved ability to order
numbers. Presently, tDCS is being investigated for treating variety
of other conditions like stroke recovery, depression and migraine.
But importantly, NO scientist advised people to go around, plug
into a wall socket and get themselves electric shocks. It could be
hazardous. The scientists hope to develop a device that would
provide an appropriate amount of electric current to brain, and
have even filed a patent on such a device. However, the scientists
also mention that such a device will not make a person better at
maths instantly, the person also has to put in significant amount of
effort.
References:
Zapping the brain improves maths skills
Transcranial direct current stimulation
Transcranial direct current stimulation – Information
TDCS guided using fMRI significantly accelerates learning