![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/95602_1-e1666529059386.jpg\")
<\/a>Exactly what the results mean for day-to-day life is still unclear.<\/p>\nBut ideas range from helping old people cope with memory decline, to treating disease and aiding exam preparation.<\/p>\n
Dr. Robert Reinhart, from Boston University, described the stimulation technique as \u201can entirely different approach to isolating and augmenting parts of the brain<\/em>\u201d which offered \u201can entirely new realm of potential treatment options<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n People on the trial wore a cap filled with electrodes. A controlled electrical current, which feels similar to an itch or a tingle, was then used to precisely alter brainwaves in targeted regions of the brain.<\/p>\n The volunteers underwent 20 minutes of stimulation daily for four days in a row. Throughout the study they had to memorise lists of words, which they were again asked to recall one month later.<\/p>\n Dr. Reinhart said the treatment \u201ccould cause selective memory improvement that lasts for at least one month<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n The results, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience<\/em>, showed those volunteers who were struggling with the memory games at the beginning of the experiment were those whose memory improved the most.<\/p>\n How Memory Works<\/strong><\/p>\n The electrical signals changed the rhythm of brain activity \u2013 brainwaves \u2013 in the areas targeted.<\/p>\n Scientists think the four rounds of stimulation reinforced those patterns and led to lingering improvements as the brain adapted and rewired itself \u2013 known as neuroplasticity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sort of connecting to the so-called language of the brain, that speaks to itself and communicates with itself through electrical impulses<\/em>,\u201d said Dr. Reinhart.<\/p>\n However, it takes different types of stimulation to boost the different types of memory:<\/p>\n All 150 people who took part in the trial were healthy, with no cognitive impairment, and were aged between 65 and 88.<\/p>\n Becoming more forgetful is often a sign of age, but whether this form of stimulation could aid the aging brain in the real world, beyond word games, is still unknown.<\/p>\n Dementia, including Alzheimer\u2019s disease, is caused by a diseased brain with dying brain cells \u2013 leading to memory problems.<\/p>\n The researchers are investigating whether the technology can be used in Alzheimer\u2019s disease to stimulate the surviving brain cells, as well as in schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder.<\/p>\n Dr. Susan Kohlhaas, the director of research at Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK, said: \u201cWe don\u2019t know if brain stimulation techniques have potential to help people with dementia but there is research under way in this area<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n At present, the stimulation method used \u2013 transcranial alternating current stimulation \u2013 is only possible in research laboratories.<\/p>\n So while you may be thinking of using cognitive enhancement to get through an exams \u2013 or just a pub quiz \u2013 the scientists say those sort of homegrown applications are for the distant future.<\/p>\n However, researcher Shrey Grover said he can ultimately see them being used alongside more traditional methods which people use to keep their mind sharp, such as crosswords and Sudoku.<\/p>\n \u201cAny efforts to remain cognitively engaged are always welcome, this kind of approach is perhaps something that could be added on to things that people are already doing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n yogaesoteric <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scientists have discovered they can boost people\u2019s memory for a least a month by harmlessly stimulating parts of the brain with electricity. Volunteers performed better at word memorisation games, which tested both their immediate \u201cworking\u201d memory and their long-term memory, experts found. Exactly what the results mean for day-to-day life is still unclear. But ideas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1369],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-technology-1602-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95602"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97457,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95602\/revisions\/97457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nOctober 9, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n