Zap Away

BY KIM BELLARD Speaking as a sometimes forgetful “senior citizen,” when I found out that non-invasively zapping brains with electricity can result in measurable improvements in memory, that’s something I’m going to remember. I hope.   In research published in Nature Neuroscience by Grover, et. al., a team lead by Boston University cognitive neuroscientist Robert Reinhart produced improvements in both long-term and short-term (working) memory through a series of weak electric stimulation – transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). The authors modestly claim: “Together, these findings suggest that memory function can be selectively and sustainably improved in older adults through modulation of functionally specific brain rhythms.” The study provided the stimulation using something that looks like a swimming cap with electrodes, applied for twenty minutes a day for four days.  The population was 150 people, broken up into three separate experiments, all ages 65 to 88. The results were amazing.  “We can watch the memory improvements accumulate … with each passing day,” Dr. Reinhart marveled.   Previous studies had suggested that long term and working memories had distinct mechanisms, in different parts of the brain, and this study seems to have demonstrated that fairly conclusively.  “We could improve either short-term or long-term memory separately,” Dr. Reinhart said. “And with this intervention...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Tech Health Technology Alzheimer's Cognitive Neuroscience FDA Ines Volante Robert Reinhart Source Type: blogs