In a new study published on the last day 23 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, a team described the potential of electrical stimuli to increase brain function. In the experiments, participants wore an elastic cap embedded with electrodes that delivered weak electrical currents oscillating at specific frequencies to the scalp. By applying these controlled currents to specific regions of the brain, it was possible to change the activity, stimulating the neurons.
Research suggests that brain cells communicate effectively when they coordinate the timing of their fires. These rhythmic patterns of brain activity show marked abnormalities during neuropsychiatric illnesses.
The technique, then, aims to externally induce rhythmic brain activity that promotes healthy mental function, when the brain may not be able to produce these rhythms on its own. The team discovered that a specialized type of stimulus can target two brain regions at the same time and manipulate how they communicate. This can improve or reduce cognitive function.
For example, some psychiatric conditions, such as depression, may involve a reduced ability to process rewards, while others, such as bipolar disorder, may involve a highly active reward processing system.
The idea of the stimulus, then, would be to be able to alter mental function in any direction, forming a personalized treatment that meets specific clinical needs.
The researchers themselves acknowledge that these findings are bringing the scientific community closer to the ability to improve brain function in a safe, non-invasive way that does not require medication.
Stimuli in the brain
Previously, scientists used this same method of stimulating the brain to improve memory. At the time, the study authors concluded that the treatment “may cause selective memory improvement lasting at least one month”.
Another pointed out that electrical stimulation of the brain can have a profound antidepressant effect, as long as the shocks are carefully tailored to each patient’s specific mood and symptoms.
Cerebral stimuli also help to contain Alzheimer’s, when the area in question is the precuneus, a nervous center for the convergence of information, which integrates different sensations and passes them on to other brain corners.
New form of communication in the brain
Also in a previous study, researchers identified a new form of communication that happens in the brain. It’s a mechanism in the brain’s outer cortical cells that produces a signal on its own that could give individual neurons another way to carry out their logical functions.
The group measured the electrical activity in tissues removed during surgery and analyzed the structure using fluorescence microscopy. With this, it was possible to discover that individual cells in the cortex use not only sodium ions, as the scientific community already knew, but also calcium.
Little by little, science has been unveiling the most mysterious organ in the human body. Previously, researchers have found, for example, that specific neurons light up in your brain when you hear someone sing, and that the brain uses calculus to control rapid movement.
Source: Science Translational Medicine via The Conversation
