Scientists call for regulations for brain stimulation devices sold directly to consumers

By SharpBrains | August 31, 2016

———- Brain-Zap­ping Gad­gets Need Reg­u­la­tion, Say Sci­en­tists and (Some) Man­u­fac­tur­ers (IEEE Spec­trum): “Just a few years ago, the idea of elec­tri­cal­ly stim­u­lat­ing your brain in the com­fort of your own home would have sound­ed pret­ty weird, and prob­a­bly like a bad idea. But the prac­tice of brain-zapping—in par­tic­u­lar, an easy-to-pull-off tech­nique called tran­scra­nial direct cur­rent stimulation…

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Study: Neuroscientists pinpoint the brain and performance impact of a (perceived) judgmental audience

By SharpBrains | January 28, 2016

Why your brain makes you slip up when anx­ious (Sci­ence Dai­ly): “As musi­cians, fig­ure skaters and any­one who takes a dri­ving test will know, the anx­i­ety of being watched can have a dis­as­trous effect on your per­for­mance… In the new study, pub­lished in Sci­en­tif­ic Reports, par­tic­i­pants’ brain activ­i­ty was mon­i­tored while 

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

By SharpBrains | October 14, 2015

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…

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Non-invasive brain stimulation in children creates opportunities and risks

By SharpBrains | September 23, 2015

Brain Stim­u­la­tion in Chil­dren Spurs Hope—and Con­cern (Sci­en­tif­ic Amer­i­can): “The idea of using mag­nets or elec­tric cur­rents to treat psy­chi­atric or learn­ing dis­or­ders — or just to enhance cog­ni­tion — has gen­er­at­ed a flur­ry of excite­ment over the past ten years. The tech­nique is thought to work by acti­vat­ing neur­al cir­cuits or by mak­ing it…

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Challenge: How to spur meaningful, targeted & safe adoption of emerging neurotechnologies

By SharpBrains | September 1, 2015 |

A cap that treats depres­sion? Check the sci­ence before get­ting excit­ed (The Guardian): “Yes­ter­day, an arti­cle in the Entre­pre­neurs sec­tion of the Guardian pur­port­ed to reveal a “cloth cap that could help treat depres­sion”. This claim has caused some alarm in the neu­ro­science and men­tal health fields, so it’s impor­tant to look a lit­tle more…

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Trend: From brain surgery towards non-invasive brain stimulation therapies

By SharpBrains | June 19, 2015

. BRAIN-STIMULATING HELMET MAY HELP PARKINSON’S PATIENTS (Pop­u­lar Sci­ence): “When Michelle Lane was inca­pac­i­tat­ed by Parkin­son’s dis­ease, her best option was brain surgery. Elec­tri­cal leads were sur­gi­cal­ly implant­ed into her skull, and a pace­­mak­er-like device installed to deliv­er elec­tri­cal sig­nals to the move­ment region of the brain. Now

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