Transcranial alternating current stimulation, abbreviated as tACS, is a method to change brain activity. Grover et al. 2022 used it to improve memory.
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique. Low intensity alternating currents are applied to the head, which have a small effect on the brain. Due to the low intensity, tACS is safe. The alternating currents can be applied at different frequencies, immitating neural oscillations (brain waves). Thereby, these brain waves can be made stronger, which can improve cognitive functions.
Grover and colleagues used it to improve memory in healthy elderly volunteers. They show that tACS in the inferior parietal lobule at the theta frequency improves memory. This effects was frequency specific, since gamma tACS over the same region did not improve memory. Also, gamma frequency tACS (but not theta tACS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improved memory.
Altogether this study indicates that tACS may become a therapeutic tool to treat and prevent neurological and mental health disorders.
Reference:
Grover, S., Wen, W., Viswanathan, V., Gill, C. T., & Reinhart, R. (2022). Long-lasting, dissociable improvements in working memory and long-term memory in older adults with repetitive neuromodulation. Nature neuroscience, 25(9), 1237-1246. doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01...
Narrated by: Miles Wischnewski
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24 сен 2022
