Monday, April 06, 2015

HEALTH - Focusing the Sluggish Mind

"How a gentle electrical jolt can focus a sluggish mind" PBS NewsHour 3/31/2015

There are mornings I could use this.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Need a coffee to get going in the morning?  A jolt of electrical current could be more stimulating.  Lighting up the brain with small amounts of electricity can dramatically improve mental focus, researchers have found.  Science correspondent Miles O’Brien gets wired up to explore the potential uses.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Next: a report on how researchers are exploring whether a small zap to the brain may actually be helpful.  The idea?   Possibly boosting performance and improving brain activity in some cases.

Our guide is our science correspondent, Miles O’Brien.

MILES O’BRIEN (NewsHour):  If you’re like me, you really can’t start the day without a little jolt.

MAROM BIKSON, The City College of New York:  This is the simulator itself that’s going to be providing the actual current that’s going to your head.

MILES O’BRIEN:  But step aside, grande latte.  There’s a new kid on the block.

MAROM BIKSON:  So, current is going to come out of the device to the electrodes on your forehead and it’s going to flow through your head.

MILES O’BRIEN:  Biomedical engineer Marom Bikson at the City College of New York is prepping me for a dose of transcranial direct current stimulation, or TDCS, a jump-start for my brain.

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