Pros and Cons of latest wearable tech trend: Mood-altering electrical brain stimulation

Elec­tri­cal brain stim­u­la­tion moves from lab to home, experts wary (CBC radio):

“Zap­ping your brain to adjust your mood may sound like the stuff of sci­ence fic­tion, or a campy B movie.

But Anna Wexler is a real life grad stu­dent at the Mass­a­chus­sets Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy, demon­strat­ing a real, com­mer­cial­ly avail­able device she bought for less than $300…The prod­uct, what sci­en­tists call “tran­scra­nial direct cur­rent stim­u­la­tion”, is meant to alter mood. Sim­i­lar prod­ucts are being mar­ket­ed on the promise to improve your cog­ni­tion, and even make the wear­er smarter. And as they become avail­able for home use, experts are still strug­gling with what to think of this new, wear­able tech trend.”

–> Lis­ten to episode (24 min­utes) with sci­en­tists Marom Bik­son, Flavio Frohlich and Peter Reiner.

To learn more:

• 10 Ways to Improve Health Based on the Lat­est Non-Inva­sive Neurotechnologies
• Tran­scra­nial Direct Cur­rent Stim­u­la­tion (tDCS) as depres­sion treat­ment: much promise, some DIY risks
• 2015 Sharp­Brains Vir­tual Sum­mit: Mon­i­tor­ing & Enhanc­ing Brain Health in the Per­va­sive Neu­rotech­nol­ogy Era (Novem­ber 17–19th, 2015)