Think of it as a morning routine that replaces your first cup of coffee:
You get up feeling slightly foggy, so that you slip on a wearable device that appears like an additional thick headband. You activate the facility source and quiet down while the electrical current flows through your brain. Twenty minutes later, feeling more focused and energized, you begin your busy day feeling grateful for this latest technology.
If this scene sounds weird to you, I'm with you. And yet, hype is growing around transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for a growing list of conditions comparable to depression, ADHD, and even Alzheimer's disease. A recent commercial for A tDCS device Urges you to “raise your performance”. But before you are attempting it, read on.
What is transcranial direct current stimulation?
Brain stimulation treatments Activating or inhibiting parts of the brain. tDCS has been around for years, but has grown in popularity over the past decade.
tDCS devices use a headgear that appears like a swim cap or headband to position electrodes against the scalp. When the facility source is turned on, the electrodes deliver a low level of electrical current to the brain. A typical session lasts 20 to half-hour and will be repeated over days or perhaps weeks.
There are three well-known brain stimulation treatments:
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): A tool worn on the brow stimulates specific areas of the brain by altering nearby magnetic fields. TMS is cleared by the FDA to treat depression that has not responded to straightforward medications, and for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): Electrodes placed at specific places on the scalp cause the patient to experience a transient seizure during anesthesia. In use for the reason that late Thirties, ECT could be highly effective for severe depression that has not responded to straightforward treatment. It uses a better level of electrical current than tDCS. It subsequently requires close medical supervision and is generally administered in a hospital or specialized clinic.
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS): Electrodes surgically implanted in specific areas of the brain generate electrical pulses. DBS is used to treat such conditions. Parkinson's disease, Epilepsyor Shocks Which doesn't improve with medication.
What are the claims for tDCS?
The brain normally works by sending and receiving tiny electrical signals between nerve cells. According to proponents of tDCS, stimulating specific areas of the brain with low levels of electricity can improve attention or memory, mood, and even dementia.
Some claim that tDCS can.
- Improve mental clarity, focus and memory
- Increased energy and motivation
- Clear up so-called brain fog after COVID-19, Lyme disease, or other conditions.
- Reduce depression or anxiety.
- Reducing cravings in smokers or drug addicts
- Improve symptoms of ADHD or Alzheimer's disease.
Does tDCS work?
The jury remains to be out. Research shows that tDCS holds promise for some conditions, however the techniques tested by the research may differ from devices sold commercially for home use. For example, electrodes could be placed more precisely on an element of the brain, and the way the present is delivered, the length of the session, or the variety of sessions could be varied.
Currently, small, short-term studies suggest that tDCS may profit individuals with:
- Mental stress: An evaluation of 10 randomized trials found that some participants were more prone to have fewer depressive symptoms, or remission of depression, after a course of tDCS treatment.
- It is the name of a mental disease: A review of seven studies found that tDCS lasting 20 to 40 minutes improved memory and other cognitive measures in individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
- ADHD: Improved attention after half-hour of tDCS day by day for one month in a randomized trial of 64 adults with ADHD.
The FDA has not cleared tDCS for any health condition, and it is taken into account investigational. More research with positive results and reassuring safety data are needed before tDCS gets the thumbs up from regulators.
This might be why some advertisements for tDCS note in advantageous print that it just isn’t a medical device and is for recreational use only.
Are there downsides to tDCS?
Although the FDA considers tDCS secure for adults, there are downsides to contemplate. For example, the treatment may cause itching, irritation, or minor burns on the electrode sites. Some users complain of fatigue or headaches.
There are not any large, long-term studies of tDCS, so the general safety is uncertain. Some experts think so. Home use raises many questions.comparable to how much of the brain is affected outside of the targeted areas, what counterintuitive approaches to using tDCS can do, and the way long the brain changes – intended or not – last.
Very limited research has been done in children. so, Consequences for child brain development should not clear.
Finally, tDCS devices could be expensive (several hundred dollars or more), and are often not covered by medical insurance.
The bottom line
It stays unclear how tDCS ought to be used, or who’s most definitely to profit from it. If you might be eager about pursuing tDCS, understand that there remains to be much we have no idea.
If you're more skeptical and risk-averse (like me), you possibly can wait for more definitive research on its advantages and risks — and for now, your morning coffee to clear your mind. Stick with
Follow me on Twitter. @RobShmerling