Mild Electric Shock To Brain May Boost Spatial Memory

An anonymous reader writes "A mild electrical shock to the brain before learning a new task may enhance memory, researchers reported on Wednesday. A team of neuroscientists demonstrated that electrical stimulation to a critical junction in the brain appeared to boost memory in a few patients with epilepsy, a surprising finding that have implications for Alzheimer's disease treatment."

In other news

[Anonymous Coward]

Randomly flipping bits in binary may fix bugs.

Re:

[WrecklessSandwich]

Have you tried rebooting?

Alight

[masternerdguy]

Make sure it has an open API.

Proven!

[Anonymous Coward]

A stab in the arm, prior to learning a new task does enhance memory.

Most people will readily confirm that traumatic events make memories in and around the time of the event very clear and very long lasting.

Also in the news, water is apparently wet!

Re:Proven!

[TWX]

Back when I was an avid swing dancer, I met a gal who thought that if she learned to do something while drunk then she'd always be able to do it well while drunk.

I guess she thought she was a good swing dancer while drunk, but I couldn't tell the difference between her dancing and her stumbling around drunk...

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[linear a]

But she was really GOOD at stumbling around while drunk!

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[jimbolauski]

I wonder if they used grad students to test this out on. "If this test works not only will your time count towards your thesis but you will get better grades. It's a win win"

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[LifesABeach]

My thoughts wonder to the idea of how many Watts did it take to "turn the lights on?"

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[h5inz]

It is called transcranial direct current stimulation. Usually it is something like 3-9V (Why is it called electric shock in the Slashdot headline?) and probably low amperage as well because a typical 9v battery is allegedly enough. The TDCS is being considered a rediscovery, because 20 years ago psychiatrists would have been very sceptical about the current with so low voltage being able to pass through subjects skull and brain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_direct-current_stimulation [wikipedia.org]
AC: "A

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[mcgrew]

Usually it is something like 3-9V (Why is it called electric shock in the Slashdot headline?)

Put the terminals of a new 9v battery to your tongue and you'll see.

Goodness!

[mark-t]

They're just discovering all kinds of new applications for electroshock therapy these days! It almost feels like 1945 all over again!

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[LifesABeach]

I remember seeing this sceen in the movie, "Taken." This therapy used didn't cause any remembering to occur. Maybe more, "studies" would be helpful?

Sock your kids, make them smarter

[na1led]

So if I use a shock collar on my kids, not only will I be able to discipline them better, but I'll also be making them smarter.

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[Jeng]

Naw, a shock headband, the shock has to go though the brain.

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[LifesABeach]

Let's hope the kids don't remember when you go to sleep.

Southpark

[TWX]

I guess that Parker and Stone were wrong when they had Cartman suck so bad when singing "Oh Holy Night"...

Dr Fried???

[mcl630]

Should you really let a doctor named "Fried" give you electrical shock treatments?

Dr nick is fine with it

[Joe_Dragon]

hello everybody

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[dballanc]

My grandmothers eye doc was "Dr Blinder". Not kididng. Good doctor despite the name.

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[gVibe]

I just have to reply to this ... In Atlanta, there is a dentist named Dr. Hammer. Anyone wanna give him a try?

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[JoeMerchant]

Sarasota Florida had (has?) a dentist named "Royal Fink" - proudly emblazoned on the side of the building.

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[mcgrew]

Dr. Odin [wikipedia.org] did surgery on my eye (yes, he's real) [ucomparehealthcare.com]

Makes a great present

[wildzeke]

The portable, memory enhancing electro-shock band is so comfortable, you'll forget you are wearing it.

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[sgt scrub]

forget your wearing... hahahaha biiizzzt. huh wah?

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[LifesABeach]

Could using this device during a test be construed as Cheating? I think the educator would ignore its use, because one shouldn't laugh at the struggles of a student.

I see possibilities...

[Oswald McWeany]

So if shocking your brain makes your brain get bigger... Does it work if I submit other parts of my body to electric shocks?

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[Anonymous Coward]

Insert it into a wall socket and post back with results, its for science!

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[wierd_w]

I suggest he try the lane pulsator IV [valleyvet.com]

Nevermind that it is intended for use on cattle, given the track record with Good ol AC and goatse, I figured he needed the industrial size.

Zappy zappy

[SJHillman]

I know that when my father was teaching me how to add a new electric receptacle, I sure learned my lesson quickly about grabbing a live wire.

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[sgt scrub]

I learned 1) not to trust my dad, and 2) how to know if your getting spark to the distributer, when he asked me to hold on to the coil cable as he turned over the engine.

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[drobety]

My stepfather learned 1) to not trust me, and 2) to stop assuming nobody touched that switch he flipped earlier before grabbing the (live) wire

not a surprise

[sribe]

I can tell you for sure that a severe electrical shock boosts my spatial memory! As in, every time I even get near that cabinet, all sphincters clench.

A Little Ain't Enough

[evil_aaronm]

Randle Patrick McMurphy loved it...

Calling 'shock' or 'electroshock' inaccurate

[Kurofuneparry]

This is deep brain stimulation. They're running a constant or alternating current, not producing bursts of electricity or a 'shock'. I've administered the modern, anesthetized, calibrated version of electroshock in my medical training and this procedure described here is also very, very different.

This is much more analogous to overclocking a part of the brain by preferentially stimulating it to work harder. This may be used to improve performance but those applications are still far away. This is most us

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[LifesABeach]

Could this application be used to help "plot" the neural pathways?

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[Kurofuneparry]

Yes, in the sense that they're using it to try to determine which parts serve which function. Certain areas are dependent on the function of other areas, like Broca's area (mouth articulation for speech) being dependent on Wernicke's area (Word association/searching).

Then again.... I'm an idiot.....

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[LifesABeach]

Given that certain areas of the brain are mechanically connected to physical parts of the rest of the body; are these connected areas constructively definable north of the Brain Stem?

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[JoeMerchant]

Of course, the early documented forms of ECT were literally 60Hz 120V through a resistor to the skull.

They got better about using anesthesia to prevent the patients from breaking their own bones after a while...

sounds iffy

[keytohwy]

**May**??

Yes, but what did they forget?

[Anonymous Coward]

Eventually there will be a study that reveals the improvement of spatial memory for new tasks was due to the electric shock deleting older memories in contiguous 512K blocks.

Ask any redneck for a hangover cure

[ozduo]

Stagger out to the fence and hang onto the electrified wire it's the best hangover cure I ever tried. Peeing on the electric fence has the opposite effect.

The nice part is that the results scale up

[idontgno]

The effectiveness of this method is amazing when the voltages are ramped up to lethal levels, as long as you' both teach and evaluate before administering the current.

To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be electrocuted in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."

Spatial memory?

[PPH]

Sure enough. One shock and I remembered where the exit was.

And the research team was lead by...

[chinton]

Dr. Peter Venkman.

Wait a minute..

[Oasiz]

That ab-tronic "slim down fat" electrical shock belt.. I will so wrap it around my head while I study and put the "superman mode" on when it's crunch-time !

More then one use.

[Mariomario]

So a little shock to help you remember something new. A bigger shock to make you forget your short term memory (used to "cure" depression"). And a huge shock to make you forget everything (dead).

It's like a pacemaker...

[crdotson]

...for the brain.

my experiment

[Walt Dismal]

I tried doing this electric shock thing to boost memory, a couple weeks ago, Or was it last year. Wait, might have been 10 years ago.

Didn't this also help us to learn Maths? Related?

[ivi]

I seem to recall similar work, that suggested a light electricity flow could help math students' learning.

Now, spatial memory...

Is the two related?

Great!

[luxifr]

...electric shocks for epileptic brains... brilliant idea, really... may introduce a seizure but hey, at least you now can remember it, right?

Re:Great! Wanting to learn new concept

[AssholeMcGee]

Actually wanting to learn something maybe a new concept!! Key word ----------WANT-------------- What did the teacher tell me about again?? I was to busy napping or not giving a shit...... What else can you waste money and time on?? I get what they are trying to do, but come on. I guess all the time and money spent on neuroscientists educations have to result in something..

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[AssholeMcGee]

I got shocked by not shutting the power off to my dining room outlets, I will always remember to shut off the breaker before playing with it..