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Neuroscience: Brain buzz

Nature volume 472, pages 156–159 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Scientists reviving a decades-old technique for brain stimulation have found that it can boost learning. So what else can be done with some wires and a nine-volt battery?

Last year a succession of volunteers sat down in a research lab in Albuquerque, New Mexico to play DARWARS Ambush!, a video game designed to train US soldiers bound for Iraq. Each person surveyed virtual landscapes strewn with dilapidated buildings and abandoned cars for signs of trouble — a shadow cast by a rooftop sniper, or an improvised explosive device behind a rubbish bin. With just seconds to react before a blast or shots rang out, most forgot about the wet sponge affixed to their right temple that was delivering a faint electric tickle. The volunteers received a few milliamps of current at most, and the simple gadget used to deliver it was powered by a 9-volt battery.

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Authors
  1. Douglas Fox
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Douglas Fox is a freelance writer in Northern California.

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Enhancing cognitive performance with drugs

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Vincent Clark

Michael Nitsche

Felipe Fregni

Allan Snyder's Centre for the Mind

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Fox, D. Neuroscience: Brain buzz. Nature 472, 156–159 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/472156a

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