from the I've-forgotten-what-I-was-going-to-write-here dept.
Using a 30-year-old brain stimulation technique, scientists have successfully boosted memory performance in healthy adults by zapping a specific bunch of neurons. While it’s unclear at this stage whether the effects will be long-lasting, the researchers are hopeful it could one day be used to treat patients with conditions that affect memory, such as Alzheimer’s. The study has been published in Science.
Brain zapping might sound horrifying, but transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive procedure that’s been studied as a potential treatment for various disorders since the 1990s. TMS involves using magnets that are carefully positioned on the scalp to induce weak electric fields; these transient fields then stimulate nearby neurons in the outer layer of the brain called the cortex. Although researchers aren’t exactly sure why it works, it does appear to have positive effects on some patients with depression. The possibility that this technique could affect neuronal circuits involved in memory, however, had not been previously investigated.
Here is a link to the original Northwestern University release.
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Zapping Elderly Brains with Electricity Improves Short-term Memory—for Almost an Hour
despite its critical role, working memory is a fragile cognitive resource that declines with age, Reinhart says. Previous studies had suggested that reduced working-memory performance in the elderly is linked to uncoupled activity in different brain areas. So Reinhart and his team set out to test whether recoupling brain waves in older adults could boost the brain's ability to temporarily store information.
To do so, the researchers used jolts of weak electrical current to synchronize waves in the prefrontal and temporal cortex—two brain areas critical for cognition—and applied the current to the scalps of 42 healthy people in their 60s and 70s who showed no signs of decline in mental ability. Before their brains were zapped, participants looked at a series of images: an everyday object, followed briefly by a blank screen, and then either an identical or a modified version of the same object. The goal was to spot whether the two images were different.
Then the participants took the test again, while their brains were stimulated with a current. After about 25 minutes of applying electricity, participants were on average more accurate at identifying changes in the images than they were before the stimulation. Following stimulation, their performance in the test was indistinguishable from that of a group of 42 people in their 20s.
tl;dr;: electrocute grandpa, then ask him where he hid his will.
Transcranial Brain Stimulation Could Improve Working Memory
Scientists Test Whether Brain Stimulation Could Help Sharpen Aging Memory
One leading hypothesis contends that working memory works by far-flung brain areas firing synchronously. When two areas are on the same brain wavelength, communication is tight, and working memory functions seamlessly.
But as we age, these brain areas start falling out of step, and these once tightly linked brain areas are no longer on the same page. A study published Monday in [DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0371-x] [DX] Nature Neuroscience demonstrates a link between these mismatched brain rhythms and declines in working memory in older adults and shows that a precise form of electrical stimulation applied to the scalp can coax these brain areas back into sync.
Applied to the brain via a skullcap studded with electrodes, an experimental form of transcranial brain stimulation delivers alternating current to a small group of neurons to nudge them to a specific wavelength. Imagine two giant pendulums swinging at different rates. The brain stimulation nudges each pendulum with a pair of electrical hands pushing at the same frequency, causing them to sync up and swing synchronously.
Also at The Guardian.
Related: Memory Enhancement Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation Could Speed Learning by 40%
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Could Reduce People's Intentions to Commit Violence
Scientists Connect 3 Actual Human Brains (Then Make Them Play Tetris)
(Score: 2) by buswolley on Sunday August 31 2014, @03:35PM
This study is creating a lot of excitement in my field.
subicular junctures
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Sunday August 31 2014, @04:42PM
well if the stimulation enhances existing pathways that is good. If it creates unknown problems, perhaps we should wait and see!
The gist of this, is we are putting energy into the brain and see what happens...kinda cool, though.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday August 31 2014, @05:37PM
It's also creating a lot of excitement in the patients brains! *rimshot!*
(Score: 3, Funny) by Tork on Sunday August 31 2014, @09:27PM
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday September 01 2014, @04:52AM
By chance, are you working (in) the electromagnetic meadow?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Sunday August 31 2014, @06:58PM
Does this mean I should connect a lamp cord to my tinfoil hat every once in a while?
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Monday September 01 2014, @09:03AM
No, connecting it to the foil would just electrocute you, you need to wrap the cord around your head (but otherwise let it do it's job). The coiling of the cord around a metallic core should create a sufficient magnetic field.
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Monday September 01 2014, @12:03PM
WooHoo! This means I can write off my colander as a medical expense :-)
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Monday September 01 2014, @12:27PM
Remember, if you have placed the colander on your head shortly after use in the religious sacraments, don't forget to dry it thoroughly beforehand. Water and electricity is a dangerous combination.
(Score: 2) by e_armadillo on Sunday August 31 2014, @08:14PM
Big mistake. Sent my wife in, and let me tell you THAT is one time you don't want someone's memory improved . . .
"How are we gonna get out of here?" ... "We'll dig our way out!" ... "No, no, dig UP stupid!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 01 2014, @10:07AM
:D