Electric "thinking cap" helps people learn from their mistakes
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has become a widely used technique for reaching into a person's brain and altering the way in which it functions. Vanderbilt psychology Professor Geoffrey Woodman and graduate student Robert Reinhart have just published the results of a new study in the Journal of Neuroscience in which they found that tDCS stimulation of the mediofrontal cortex for a period of minutes can change one's ability to recognize and learn from error for a period of several hours.
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Electric "Thinking Cap" Helps People
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(Score: 3, Funny) by Horse With Stripes on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:35PM
So we're calling it something else these days? A zap to the melon every time we fuck up will eventually result in pavlovian responses that keep us from doing that particular thing again. In fact, it may result in us not doing anything due to inherent fear of getting an electric down payment on a lobotomy.
On the plus side, my new Cefaly electric headband works wonders for my headaches. I guess it's all perspective (and voltage).
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:00PM
> A zap to the melon every time we fuck up will eventually result in pavlovian
> responses that keep us from doing that particular thing again.
RTFA - the test subjects got three different kinds of stimulus, specifically designed to be indistinguishable from each other. One of the kinds even had the opposite effect - resulting in more errors and taking longer to learn the task.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21 2014, @12:25AM
dolp! i thought i had this one covered. *puts the paperclip and twist tied 9 volt battery contraption up*
(Score: 4, Interesting) by frojack on Monday April 21 2014, @12:38AM
Three different kinds of stimulus, Positive voltage through the brain, Negative voltage through the brain, and sham (no voltage through the brain, only on the cheek). The current is so gentle that subjects reported only a few seconds of tingling or itching at the beginning of each stimulation session. The Positive voltage had the effect of reducing errors. The effect lasted 5 hours.
None of this disproves the similarity with Electro Shock Therapy [wikipedia.org]. (Now euphemistically called Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)).
Even though the voltages uses in this expiriment are much smaller, the duration is much longer.
Similar trade offs are made in ECT between voltage and amperage, alternating current vs pulsed, and electrode placement, on a patient by patient basis, a clear indication they have no consistent theory of what the hell they are doing.
In short this study probably demonstrates why ECT is so inconsistent in producing results, and will probably lead to a total restructuring of ECT.
The OP hit the nail on the head if you ask me.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Angry Jesus on Monday April 21 2014, @01:49AM
> None of this disproves the similarity with Electro Shock Therapy.
But what it does is completely disprove any similarity to Pavlovian response. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Monday April 21 2014, @08:37AM
This bears no real resemblance to ECT. ECT is the application of a series of rather strong pulses (in modern form, sine wave in older form) of electricity that induces a tonic-clonic seizure followed by unconsciousness. The subject (I refuse to use the term patient in relation to this) is generally out of it for quite a while after and tends to suffer memory and cognitive deficits afterward. Evidence suggests significant brain damage.
ECT is like beating an out of tune piano with a hammer in hopes that whatever random changes are induced sound better than it did before (so long as you don't mind a few keys not working anymore).
tDCS OTOH involves a barely perceptible direct current which nevertheless seems to alter brain function. There is little to no evidence either way as far as harm it might do, mostly due to lack of research. Certainly whatever potential harm there is is nowhere near as obvious as ECT.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:13PM
A zap to the ass with an electric cattle-prod would probably be much less expensive and cumbersome as a tool to teach people to recognize mistakes.
Plus, electric cattle-prods can vaporize bugs, it's like something in Star Trek shot with a phaser set to kill.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:25PM
I'd happily contribute to a fund to provide such a "thinking cap" for all the congress critters. I'd throw in some extra if they can boost the voltage to somewhere over 500V and keep "aiding them recognize the mistake" for half a minute or so.
For a higher return of investment, one can reuse these caps on lobbyists and banksters: boy, don't they make lots of mistakes too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:33PM
It's the difference between a rock and a scalpel.
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(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:38PM
Now only if that thinking cap can be powered with a lemon then we have a great tool for general use. Science delivering on science fiction is so much fun.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday April 21 2014, @03:28AM
No, it takes a fresh cup of really hot tea.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:03PM
probably holding it wrong ... aaaaand *ZZaaap!*
(Score: 4, Funny) by starcraftsicko on Monday April 21 2014, @12:53AM
Can my thinking cap be lined with tin foil? Thinking and learning better sounds great, but I don't want 'them' to control it!
This post was created with recycled electrons.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21 2014, @06:51AM
Sounds about as blunt an approach as smacking a machine till it works better. While that actually works in some cases, better to fix stuff properly.
So I'll give it a pass till the tech is much better and more refined.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday April 21 2014, @05:10PM
No video available, but even a monkey's intelligence can benefit from similar technology [gotfuturama.com].