Electric "Thinking Cap" Controls Learning Speed

In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University psychologists show that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current. The researchers used a battery-powered constant current stimulator that delivered a very weak electrical current to the brain for about 20 minutes. The effects of the stimulation transferred to other tasks and lasted about five hours. The implications of the findings extend beyond the potential to improve learning. It may also have clinical benefits in the treatment of conditions like schizophrenia and ADHD, which are associated with performance-monitoring deficits.

Transcript

00:00:00 this is a battery powered constant current stimulator it's basically going to deliver a very weak electrical current through the skull and the skin and through your head um for about 20 minutes um and we're going to run that current One Direction and you're going to come in in another day and we'll run that current in a different direction and on yet a third day the the

00:00:24 stimulator won't even be on for the whole 20 minute period but it's going to feel just like it is so what we were able to conclude was that by running um uh anodal current um from the top of the head um through the cheek we were able to upregulate your ability to detect that you've made errors and to improve the speed of your learning so you could more rapidly um figure out what button

00:00:52 you were supposed to press when given a certain stimulus [Music]