New York - Small zaps of electricity are found to be able to help people learn better according to a study funded by the federal government and the Dana Foundation, an organization devoted to science, health, and education.
Participants in the study played a video game in which they needed to learn the location of several stores in a four-by-four block area. They received small and painless bursts of electricity from tiny electrodes embedded in their brains while learning some of the stores, and none with others. It's not yet known how long the benefits last.
Doctors add this to possibly several other benefits in which this treatment is used. So far it's also seen as a possible way to curb memory loss for Alzheimer's patients, help with Parkinson's disease, and depression.
Although the study is a preliminary one - the original reason for the implementation of the electrodes was to help doctors find the reason behind epileptic people's seizures - doctors are seeing it as a good discovery with potential benefits in the future.
"Whethere this will translate into something useful, we do not know...You don't want to do brain surgery on people unless you have a pretty clear idea you're going to make them better," said Dr. Andres Lozano, who wasn't part of the study.
The results is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Participants in the study played a video game in which they needed to learn the location of several stores in a four-by-four block area. They received small and painless bursts of electricity from tiny electrodes embedded in their brains while learning some of the stores, and none with others. It's not yet known how long the benefits last.
Doctors add this to possibly several other benefits in which this treatment is used. So far it's also seen as a possible way to curb memory loss for Alzheimer's patients, help with Parkinson's disease, and depression.
Although the study is a preliminary one - the original reason for the implementation of the electrodes was to help doctors find the reason behind epileptic people's seizures - doctors are seeing it as a good discovery with potential benefits in the future.
"Whethere this will translate into something useful, we do not know...You don't want to do brain surgery on people unless you have a pretty clear idea you're going to make them better," said Dr. Andres Lozano, who wasn't part of the study.
The results is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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