Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Can you really affect the way your brain works by using a 9 volt battery? Apparently so with something that has been garnering attention recently called transcranial direct curent stimulation (tDCS). The basic idea is to attach electrodes to your head and allow a small, controlled 1 to 2 millamp current to pass through using a device powered by a battery. This sounds similar to Electroshock (ECT) but it is actually quite a bit different than that. ECT requires anaesthesia and gives the brain a 1 Amp (1000 millamps) jolt that causes a seizure. ECT drastically affects the functioning of the entire brain. tDCS, on the other hand, is much more selective. It only influences the area of the brain directly underneath the electrode that is close to your skull. Anodal stimulation has the ability to excite neuron firing while the cathode does the opposite. So specific brain areas can either be activated or deactivated in response to the current.

Researchers have shown that in healthy volunteers placing the anode over an area of the brain called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDPFC) can improve a subjects ability to generate a list of words. tDCS also has the ability to improve working memory and can treat the symptoms of depression when applied over that very same area of the brain. The study done on depressed patients is only a preliminary one and there are still more questions to be answered. Now, though, the New York State Psychiatric Institute is running a new trial to see if they can get the same results. tDCS has also been used to modify pain perception, so this may become a useful treatment for those who have unmanageable pain. tDCS has numerous other uses as well. When applied over the DLPFC, it can modulate the desire for specific foods. It can also diminish risk taking behavior, improve naming in aphasia, improve spatial tactile acuity and enhance language performance when targeted at specific areas of the brain.

There are both positives and negatives to using this type of device. One positive thing about this technology is that it is much cheaper to use than transcranial magnetic therapy. It also doesn't require a person to undergo anaesthesia, so you can basically use the technology on yourself (assuming you know what you are doing). The disadvantages are that it can only target brain areas that are near year skull, it can't touch deeper brain structures. It is also less selective in its targeting ability when compared to transcranial magnetic therapy. You can buy a specialized device to control and deliver the current. I don't recommend doing it quite yet. It may be a few more years before scientists can say for sure whether this technology is worthwhile or not. However it definitely holds a lot of promise.