For years, researchers have sought to untangle a complicated question: Can gently stimulating the human brain with electrical currents enhance learning and memory? Despite several indications that it may do so, questionable and sometimes conflicting results (especially those touted by biotechnology companies selling alleged memory-enhancing wearables) have made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. However, new research that tested whether transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a technique that transmits a mild electrical current through the brain via electrodes on the scalp, suggests that it can enhance some people’s ability to remember new things.
The study, published today (August 22) in Nature Neuroscience, involved 150 volunteers between the ages of 65 and 88 who received 18 to 20 minutes of tACS during a single session. Compared with controls that received sham stimulation, those that received tACS were better able to recall words from a list of 30 words presented to them ...
