Shocking your scalp using two wet sponges and electrodes is having a bit of a moment.
But scientists are split on whether tDCS can really do what it claims.
Some scientists are enthusiastic about the technology and say it has substantially fewer side effects than psychotropic medications.
But other researchers are more skeptical, doubting whether tDCS is as safe and effective as its champions claim.
There is risk of skin damage at the site of the electrode if the rig is not used correctly.
Poorly designed devices used in the wrong way could compromise heart function, although this has not been reported.
Within the walls of academia, this debate is normal.
The stimulation feels like a tingling or mild stinging at the site of the electrode.
Neurons communicate through electrical and chemical signals.
tDCS is just one of several types of mild electrical brain stimulation.
Other options include transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES).
In tACS, the keyword is alternating.
In contrast to tDCS, the current in tACS constantly changes, oscillating between positive and negative.
The current is also pulsed in a related technology, CES.
They have not taken any action against a tCDS company, but in practice, in principle they could.
However, in reviews for foc.uss devices, several customers report using the product to treat their depression.
Its real value comes when it is combined with learning.
He recommends using the technology before or during learning a new activity, like playing the piano.
Neurons that fire together, wire together.
This ability to impact learning is why tDCS is marketed as having such a broad range of potential uses.
When you apply direct current stimulation, you could change ongoing plasticity.
Not generate plasticity, but change plasticity thats already ongoing, says Bikson.
The direct current stimulation can boost that plasticity, so basically making the learning more effective.
Alarge-scale trialpublished earlier this year showed that tDCS performed better than placebo in treating depression.
What Could Go Wrong
Areas just a few millimeters apart can have very different functions.
The brain is like real estate: its all about location, location, location.
Off-target effects are especially a concern for DIY brain stimulators who may not have a background in neuroanatomy.
Studies have shownthat increasing function in one area of the brain can actually impair performance in a different area.
So, Should You Do It?
Interested in trying it yourself?
I think right now that its just too early for people to be experimenting on themselves, she says.
But Bikson, the biomedical engineer, says self-experimentation may not be such a bad thing.
But now his stance has softened.
Im not going to endorse it, but Im not going to condemn them.
Obviously, many of us in the clinical and basic research communities believe these technologies can be effective.
