Can electricity-based brain stimulation harness neuroplasticity safely?

brainstimulationDIY Brain Stim­u­la­tion Rais­es Con­cerns (Med­scape Today):

Recent increased inter­est in the elec­tric­i­ty-based brain stim­u­la­tion method of tran­scra­nial direct-cur­rent stim­u­la­tion (tDCS) as a means of improv­ing cog­ni­tive abil­i­ty has some experts rais­ing con­cerns about the neu­roeth­i­cal issues sur­round­ing the tech­nique — par­tic­u­lar­ly its ease of use as a make-it-your­self home device…

Those wish­ing to play it a lit­tle safer can opt to pur­chase an already assem­bled head­set online for about $249, which comes with the promise of improv­ing com­put­er and video game performance…

With the click of a but­ton, the head­set sends a surge of elec­tric­i­ty rip­pling across the pre­frontal cor­tex, allow­ing synaps­es to fire faster…

The most intrigu­ing aspect of tDCS is also what makes it par­tic­u­lar­ly wor­ri­some — the poten­tial for long-term manip­u­la­tion of neuroplasticity…

In the opin­ion piece, Dr. Rein­er also cau­tioned that care should even be tak­en in the pub­lic dis­cus­sion of tDCS in order to pre­vent mis­in­ter­pre­ta­tions of the tech­nique’s safe­ty — start­ing with refrain­ing from call­ing the tech­nol­o­gy “non­in­va­sive.”

Relat­ed articles:

About SharpBrains

SHARPBRAINS is an independent think-tank and consulting firm providing services at the frontier of applied neuroscience, health, leadership and innovation.
SHARPBRAINS es un think-tank y consultoría independiente proporcionando servicios para la neurociencia aplicada, salud, liderazgo e innovación.

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