Is DIY Brainhacking Safe?

An anonymous reader writes "My colleague at IEEE Spectrum, Eliza Strickland, looked at the home transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) movement. People looking to boost creativity, or cure depression, are attaching electrodes to their heads using either DIT equipment or rigs from vendors like Foc.us. Advocates believe experimenting with the tech is safe, but a neuroscientist worries about removing the tech from lab safeguards..."

Comments

Predictions?

[Anonymous Coward]

How long until the first Darwin Award is given to someone attempting this?

Re:Predictions?

[pitchpipe]

I'm thinking not long. Although tempting, I don't want to be the guinea pig.

I learned how to fix and improve computers through tinkering (which I would consider a form of hacking). What usually would happen is I would try to upgrade something, break my computer, and then spend the next four hours trying to fix it. The problem here is that you would be breaking the 'fixer' with no time to google how to roll back the buggy changes.

Re:Predictions?

[davester666]

You'll be waiting a long time with that 40 IQ, while the rest of us get that extra boost up to 80! What could go wrong?

Re:Predictions?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Edison's Medicine

Georgia Power cocktail

Don't taze me, bro'!

Re:Predictions?

[Darinbob]

You're using hexadecimal I hope.

Re:Predictions?

[Anonymous Coward]

How long until the first Darwin Award is given to someone attempting this?

I've been doing chemical hacks with my brain for quite awhile. Initially, I was hopeful about interesting results; now, as long as I get a buzz, it's all good.

Re:Predictions?

[GeekHillbilly]

The real dangers,besides frying your brain,will be the ultimate of addictions.Called Wireheading,with electrodes implanted into the pleasure center of the brain,you could possibly "Pleasure "yourself until you die of neglect.I first heard of this via the Known Space series of books by Larry Niven.(Louis Wu was a wirehead in The Ringworld Engineers) Take your time,think it through(Something else from those books)

Re:Predictions?

[DTentilhao]

> How long until the first Darwin Award is given to someone attempting this? Haa !!!

Re:Predictions?

[GeekHillbilly]

Here is the Wikipedia link -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...

Re:Predictions?

[tchdab1]

Next threshold: grateful for getting up in the morning.

Re:Predictions?

[sexconker]

The real dangers,besides frying your brain,will be the ultimate of addictions.Called Wireheading,with electrodes implanted into the pleasure center of the brain,you could possibly "Pleasure "yourself until you die of neglect.I first heard of this via the Known Space series of books by Larry Niven.(Louis Wu was a wirehead in The Ringworld Engineers)

Take your time,think it through(Something else from those books)

People already kill themselves with drugs in very unpleasurable ways. Dying during orgasm with electrodes on your scalp sounds a lot better than dying after your everything rots off from krokodil.

Re:Predictions?

[sFurbo]

IQ tests are [...] not applicable for general usage

Childhood IQ tests is one of the best predictions we have of adult success, in whatever terms we have tried to measure that. They aren't good, but they are better than, say, socio-economic status of the home.

Quite possibly, each and every person is similarly intelligent, only adapted to different environments.

You haven't been teaching much, I can hear. It seems that some people are just faster at understanding and applying information than others. In what environment is it an advantage to be slow to understand new information? Even within the same social strata, there still seem to be quite a spread, which wouldn't be expected if it was simply adaption.

Re: Predictions?

[ShieldW0lf]

If you're into that kind of sci fi, check out Mindkiller by Spider Robinson. The book opens with a burglar finding a woman committing suicide by wireheading when he breaks into her apartment and runs from there. Great book.

Re:Predictions?

[flyneye]

I personally own the TENS device used by Clapton and Richards to alleviate withdraw symptoms, Ive used it recreationally off and on for years. Not even the slightest hint of addiction. Story sounds like attention whoring to me.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned LSD reprogramming? That was the most effective outside force in brainscaping I could think of. Other than that , there is only will to change...

Re: Predictions?

[JayJay.br]

My IQ goes up to eleven.

Re:Predictions?

[hawkinspeter]

Although IQ tests do have flaws, It's quite clear that some people have far more difficulty grasping concepts than others. Have you ever tried explaining something to someone who just doesn't "get it"?

There's definitely a big range of intelligence across the population, no matter how you try to measure it.

Re:Predictions?

[AmiMoJo]

Some people's brains are broken and there is no known fix. To those people something like this could be potentially attractive. Medical science moves at a glacial pace when you are suffering and the temptation to try pretty much anything that might fix you is high.

It's dumb but it is also human nature to latch on to any sliver of hope.

Re:Predictions?

[Forty Two Tenfold]

You forgot

Burma Shave!

Re:Predictions?

[delt0r]

Childhood IQ tests, only done in the US, becomes a self fulfilling proficy because of what kind of education they get depends on that test.

Re:Predictions?

[jeffmflanagan]

Sure some will, just like some people destroy themselves with drugs, but a small current to your pleasure center might just increase enjoyment of life, rather than withdrawal from it.

Our baseline condition is pretty bad. Out of control appetites, greed, envy, violence, laziness, tribalism, superstition, etc... There's a lot of room to improve our selves via drugs and technology.

Re:Predictions?

[Shalaska]

They are not just used to test for success, for instance in my case I was tested in the 4th grade and came up with a 138. BUT they had not tested me just for that, they tested me because although I was excelling at math and science I could not write a compound sentence. So after the test showed I had the capacity to learn they pushed to keep me in the highest level of classes and also put me in special education in order to give me additional teaching in English. Now I am writing my dissertation for a PhD in Computer Science and I am grateful for the additional help. Without that testing they most likely would have dropped me into remedial English and I would have been lucky to get in to college with the essay I would have written never mind made it into graduate school.

Re:Predictions?

[yodleboy]

nah... probably Celcius...

Re:Predictions?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're still not putting fucking comas in your compound sentences.

Re:Predictions?

[h5inz]

In a research done by Liebetanz on rats, it appeared that it would take tDCS current density of 142.9A/m2 for durations greater than 10 minutes to cause lesions in rats brains. So if we take a tDCS device that has relatively small electrodes, like 3x3cm, we would need at least 128.61mA current for more than 10 minutes to cause any brain damage. Given that even 2mA (most typical) sessions can cause skin burns when the electrodes have been poorly prepared, the currents above 127.8mA would probably feel torturous. I think the user would figure out that there is something really wrong fairly quickly. Typical DIY device uses a 9V convenient store battery as a power source, its capacity could be around 400-1200mAh, which means the subject would only get less than 10 seconds of 129mA "fun" if everything goes wrong, in case the internal resistance of the battery would allow that high current, but it won't.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...

Re:Predictions?

[umafuckit]

I read up about this a while ago and I recall that the sort of voltage and current provided by a 9V batter would be sufficient for the technique. I just searched again and found this. They're using about 14V to 18V and 1.5mA. So it looks pretty safe to me.

Re: Predictions?

[Fict]

You are profoundly retarded :(

Re:Predictions?

[denmarkw00t]

In what environment is it an advantage to be slow to understand new information?

An extreme case, for sure, but: an abusive environment. An environment where learning faster or figuring things out can and often is detrimental to one's safety. An environment where you're forced to be quiet and where you're essentially ignored. This is an environment where being smarter will only help you if you have a means of escape, otherwise it's best to either keep those brains under wraps or to just give in and let the people around you tell you how to live your life, as it's your best chance to avoid violence.

Re:Predictions?

[triffid_98]

Childhood IQ tests is one of the best predictions we have of adult success, in whatever terms we have tried to measure that

Really? I thought your parents stock portfolio and political connections did that.

Re:Predictions?

[triffid_98]

Whatever happened to good old fashioned LSD reprogramming? That was the most effective outside force in brainscaping I could think of.

The DEA happened? And yes, the limited studies that have been done looked quite positive...but again, DEA

Re:Predictions?

[sFurbo]

Socioeconomic status of the parents, including stock portfolio and presumably correlating with political connections, is worse than IQ tests in predicting success. However, so few people have large amounts of stock and many political connections that it could be a better predictor for this subpopulation, but still lose out over the general public.

Re:Predictions?

[rogoshen1]

you've never been to walmart before, have you?

Re:Predictions?

[JWSmythe]

I already have bets in on the last words being either "Hold my beer and watch this!" or "What could possibly go wrong?".

Re:Predictions?

[deadweight]

I normally ignore both trolls and comma commandos, but that was funny!

Re:Predictions?

[carbonUnit42]

Wait, so what you're saying is, that I can watch one show, while recording another show, that's on a different channel? - With apologies to City Slickers. I also believe that it has a lot to do with exactly who is doing the instructing. My communications teacher, (electronic communications, wave guides, radio transmissions etc) was one hell of an engineer and any company would have been very happy to have him, but he couldn't teach. His course averaged a 60% failure rate and no matter how hard you studied, or asked questions, he was incapable of 'dumbing it down' where most people could grasp the concepts a lot easier.

Re:Predictions?

[hawkinspeter]

You might be right, but there's definitely a big range of intelligence across people.

Re:Predictions?

[flyneye]

What, have they successfully cut manufacture and use to zero?
The DEA never stopped anything, they may slow it down a bit, every now and then.....
I think its just a matter of culture and trend. There was more acid in the 80s/90s than there was in the 60s.
Itll be back. Leary,Dass,Lilly, some of my favorite researchers.

Re:Predictions?

[david_thornley]

The DEA did not stop the production and use of LSD. What they did do was stop reliable production, so you never quite know what you're getting, which is a real damper on scientific experiments. Further, they stop any research on it in the US.

In a rational world, the usefulness of drugs for medical purposes would be determined by experiment, rather than having some legally designated as useless.

Re: Predictions?

[uninformedLuddite]

Are you allowed to say that?

Re:Predictions?

[flyneye]

Like you ever knew what you were getting anyway. Usually, it would be some analog, if not the original.
The DEA does bust some. Never get them all. Thinkfully, there is still an underground evident in subculture. Burning man, various Dead-headish music tours, most universities and San Francisco.
Here is an interesting film about people I crossed paths with back in the day, their adventures, their bust, and whats left over. Totally fitting for /., this was pure Geek debauchery. I think we can agree that as long as chemistry majors want to alter their brains, there will be hallucinogenics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... This was like a Hunter S. Thompson wet dream when it was happening.
Frankly, anyone DOING it, becomes a researcher. It has been that way for thousands of years, I doubt, in the scheme of things, that the DEA will ever make a difference. I dont think theres anything but propaganda evidence that they make ANY difference.

Re:Predictions?

[david_thornley]

When I buy aspirin, I know what I'm getting. The strength is clearly marked, and I know from clinical testing that it is effective at pain relief, and has certain known side effects. The clinical testing presumably was done by having specific doses of the same exact stuff administered to subjects. This is because aspirin is legal.

If I buy LSD, I don't know what I'm getting. The strength, exact chemical, and other things with it are unknown and mostly unknowable. It isn't possible to do scientific research on it, because the DEA makes it impossible for researchers to get and administer known doses of known chemicals.

LSD might or might not be good for me. I don't know, and unless somebody does real scientific research on it I won't know. I don't know what the ill effects are, really, and I'm unwilling to test it on my own brain. That's what the DEA does.

Re:Predictions?

[flyneye]

Oh , I see, youre expressing fear over contents.
One thing that will make it seem safer is; there is no poisoning threshold for any amount you would be able to obtain.
Eat all you want, your bod will only process no more than around 250 micrograms. The concern is; would you benefit from that much? Probably not, at first anyway. The big long trip can take more than a weekend and is heavier than most care to deal with.
There is plenty of research out there from monographs to notes to biographical and autobiographical works.
The girl in the film is even promoting her works.
Frankly, if you are hesitant or have fear about it, it would affect your personal research in a negative way.
Perhaps best for you to just read about it.There can be ill effects, all self induced. Not everyone has a predispositon to hallucinogenics.
While untested by official agencies for anything useful, there are thousands of years of use of various mushrooms, peyote, ayahusca,purple salvia, and others. These DO have a poison threshold and any psychedelics should only be consumed by newbs in the company of the experienced.
Not exactly like LSD, but they did the trick for early man and remains an obtainable favorite in areas where it is found.In South America, there are even Ayahuca tourist packages available.(this is old information and I havent seen any lately)
LSD however, comes and goes in popularity and obtainability. Subcultural festivals where you can find hippies are where you will find any of the above.
But literally, if you think you dont want it, you wont. If you think it will be dangerous, it will. It IS what you make of it.
If there is no pioneer spirit in you, that is a better reason to stay away than fears of an office full of DEA clowns or lack of official testing by politically motivated institutions.

Re:Predictions?

[Jmc23]

In what environment is it an advantage to be slow to understand new information?

Republican party?

Re:Predictions?

[Jmc23]

Well, there's reprogramming through cannabis.

The danger of course is that people don't know they're supposed to be programming so it just keeps wiping out the old and not replacing it with anything new! :)

I'm being serious. Endo-cannabinoids are responsible for scouting out new pathways for neuronal growth.

Re:Predictions?

[david_thornley]

You're completely missing my point.

I'm aware of lots of research on the good and bad things about alcohol, and I can take that research and make up my own mind. Further, if I buy a bottle of whiskey that says 86 proof, I know that 43% of that (or as close as doesn't matter) is ethanol (by some measure), and that there are none of the more harmful alcohols in it. If I decide I want a certain amount of ethanol, I can easily determine how much whiskey to drink to get it.

I'm aware of relatively little research on LSD. Moreover, if I want some, I can go out and get something more or less like LSD, of unknown (but probably sufficient) strength, and with unknown other chemicals accompanying it.

Taking that stuff is pretty pathetic research. If I could get a known dose of a known compound with a guarantee that it's the only active ingredient, I'd be much more likely to try it.

Re:Predictions?

[flyneye]

Yup, you would need to get it manufacturer direct.

Possible, not probable.

Yes, there are several other ways to do the same thing and similar things with other compounds, organic and laboratory.
Judgement of pathos should be reserved for post dose observation.

We've done this one before...

[Freshly Exhumed]

http://science.slashdot.org/st...

http://science.slashdot.org/st...

Stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

"People looking to boost creativity, or cure depression, are attaching electrodes to their heads using either DIT equipment or rigs from vendors like Foc.us."

If this tech can REALLY cure depression or boost creativity, then it is just as likely to cause depression or remove your creativity. I wouldn't take that chance with something as elementally "me" as my mind.

Re:Stupid

[gl4ss]

yep..

if it has any chance of working it probably has some chance of damaging too.

it's just a way to relieve some people out of their money.

Re:Stupid

[Opportunist]

I know a few people where it can only be an improvement if they're no longer themselves...

Re:Stupid

[canadiannomad]

Yeah, well a business that call's itself "foc us" and sells a few dollars(cents?) worth of "simple circuits, and a couple of electrodes" to couch bums for $250 is definitely just out to "relieve some people out of their money."

Re:Stupid

[Darinbob]

With a name like foc.us it's gotta be good. With all the money they saved by not hiring someone to find out if it sounds funny when spoken aloud they added extra safeguards.

Re:Stupid

[khallow]

I'd use the phrase "more likely" based on a thermodynamics argument. My take is that states where the brain functions better are far fewer than states where it works worse. So any modification of brain function is more likely to slide into a poorer state rather than a better one.

Re:Stupid

[El Puerco Loco]

So what, it can take your brain from New York to like, Texas or Alabama?

Re:Stupid

[hawkinspeter]

On the other hand, evolution has presumably made brains to be relatively stable, so I'd imagine that any artificial stimulation would soon wear off. If our brains were that sensitive to electrical manipulation, then we'd have to be a lot more careful during lightning storms.

Re:Stupid

[Hentes]

True, but that's why it's nice that we have a herd of pioneers willing to try it out and provide us with lots of data. This is an interesting topic, and if people a doing voluntarily to get better at COD, we can learn a lot about how our brain works.

Re:Stupid

[bill_mcgonigle]

foc.us

So much focus.

.
.
.

that you have to stop in the middle for moment (for a break).

Re:Stupid

[Dripdry]

Mallrats, anybody?

Go ahead

[msobkow]

Go ahead. Fry your brain. It's not like you're using it or anything. :(

Re:Go ahead

[Marginal Coward]

"This is your brain. This is your brain on electrodes. Any questions?"

Re:Go ahead

[houstonbofh]

Well, at least the people doing this are not anyway...

Re:Go ahead

[Nyder]

Go ahead. Fry your brain. It's not like you're using it or anything. :(

I prefer to bake my brain. Apparently baking is better then frying.

Re:Go ahead

[ShieldW0lf]

This is your brain on electrodes with a side order of bacon!

Re:Go ahead

[antdude]

I don't even have a brain. :P

Re:Go ahead

[hey!]

I think it would be very hard to fry your brain with a 9v battery, even if you couple it to your head with saline soaked sponges. It'd sting, but it's doubtful you'd be able to endure enough to do serious damage. If you want to exercise an abundance of caution, you could put a 2ma or 5ma fast blow fuse in series with the electrode (yes, they make them that small).

More to the point is *subtle* changes in your brain because you hooked the electrodes up wrong, or overstimulated your brain with long sessions without medical supervision. You could commit a fatal error if you are treating yourself for depression and you connect the device in a way that makes the depression worse.

One thing that's worth noting is tha most if not all the claimed benefits of tDCS can be achieved through exercise. That's worth considering as an alternative brain hacking scheme.

Re:Go ahead

[hey!]

Seems like overkill to me. I'd say building a simple resistive constant current source would be adequately safe. In fact a simpler circuit built entirely from passive components might even be safer given the unpredictability of homebuilt circuits. Say, two 9v batteries in series with an 20 K Ohm resistor (1 watt for safety), 1 mA panel meter and 2 mA fuse. You short out the leads out before applying them to the electrodes and you should get 0.9 mA.

It's hard to see how a circuit intended to be built by someone with questionable skills could be made safer -- at least with respect to limiting the possible current applied. The danger is in the *intended* operation of the device, not the failure.

Re:Go ahead

[Marginal Coward]

I'm not a big fan of sigs, but I've been toying with creating one along the lines of "If you think this is a troll or flamebait, you probably didn't get the joke."

"It would have worked if you hadn't stopped me."

[cirby]

- E. Venkman

Go easy on your EBEs

[Trekologer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Betteridge's law of headlines

[SuperBanana]

No.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... )

Re:Betteridge's law of headlines

[Anonymous Coward]

Next submission on /.

Ok. So is DIY Brainhacking Hazardous?

Re:Betteridge's law of headlines

[Anonymous Coward]

then the submission after that: "Is Betteridge's law of headlines correct?"

Re:Betteridge's law of headlines

[gmhowell]

then the submission after that: "Is Betteridge's law of headlines correct?"

And slashdot's servers react like Mudd's android.

I wonder if beta has paradox absorbing crumple zones?

Re:Betteridge's law of headlines

[Dripdry]

No.

as long as you have the download code

[Joe_Dragon]

then just jack in away.

Drugs are probably safer

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we just legalize drugs instead? Most of them actually have a proven safety record, despite governmental claims (mdma, for example, is significantly less toxic than acetaminophen).

Re: Drugs are probably safer

[WilyCoder]

The generally accepted usage regimen of MDMA is once every three months. That indicates that MDMA is highly disruptive to the normal functioning of the brain. There would be more quantitative studies of MDMA if the stupid government would allow it. But one can look at heavy users of MDMA for a good gut-feeling estimate of the toxicity of MDMA. Other drugs such as LSD and psilocybin are not suspected of being neurotoxic like MDMA possibly is...

Re:Drugs are probably safer

[gmhowell]

Apples and oranges. They are completely different drugs, used for different reasons and with different side effects. MDMA can cause damage to the brain, acetaminophen can cause damage to the liver.

Far fewer people use their brains than use their liver.

Re:Drugs are probably safer

[ev4de]

Many standard "Big Pharma" drugs are also neurotoxic. It's kinda hard finding data on that. Yeah, I know this is not a conspiracy, this is just how the market works etc. Marketing trumps safety.

Re: Drugs are probably safer

[drinkypoo]

But one can look at heavy users of MDMA for a good gut-feeling estimate of the toxicity of MDMA.

Only if one can stand to see them twitching and doing weird shit with their hands at all times.

Re:Drugs are probably safer

[uninformedLuddite]

Heroin is less toxic than acetaminophen.

Is this dangerous?

[michaelmalak]

Redneck haircut

The Terminal Man?

[stox]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:"It would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.

[o_ferguson]

I think the quote is actually "that would have worked if you hadn't stopped me." - P. Venkman

The inexpensive route

[edibobb]

I read on the internet that you can use an arc welder for this.

Re:"It would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.

[arielCo]

- Egon Spengler

(obligatory nod to the memory of Harold Ramis)

Niven reference

[rossdee]

Do you want to be a wirehead

Re:Niven reference

[Charliemopps]

Those books sucked.

I'm just saving anyone from looking up that authors name, ordering any of his books on amazon and then proceeding to waste a good 40hrs of their lives before realizing he's a terrible author.

No offense if you like him. I like hot-dogs, but I'm not about to claim they're some kind of delicacy. Although, hot dogs could likely write better than Niven, but I digress.

Re:Niven reference

[drinkypoo]

No offense if you like him. I like hot-dogs, but I'm not about to claim they're some kind of delicacy.

You make Niven sound like a bad writer, when he is merely mediocre. He never, for example, takes extra time to piss on your mind simply because he can. Now, Piers Anthony, he is a bad writer. Actively bad.

And hot dogs can be good without being a delicacy. Or truly fit for human consumption.

Re:Niven reference

[rogoshen1]

strongly disagree. read lucifer's hammer. it was like 700 pages of introducing this MASSIVE cast of mediocre characters.. most of which are developed and then never heard from again) It's as if they either wanted to write a post-apocalyptic version of Lord of the Rings, but got bored halfway through and decided to wrap it up. Or decided to write the first sci-fi troll novel. I think B is infinitely more likely.

On an aside, I think i finished it.. i'm not sure -- the ending was that underwhelming..

It's called "DIY Brainhacking"

[Lumpio-]

Is it even possible for that to sound the least bit safe to any sane individual?

Re:It's called "DIY Brainhacking"

[somepunk]

simple, just use the existing, tried 'n true APIs until the new ones are vetted. I hack on my brain all the time. All the sane kids are doing it!

Re:It's called "DIY Brainhacking"

[noh8rz10]

i was at the bookstore yesterday and came across the "diy law" section, which sounds equally dubious.

Re:It's called "DIY Brainhacking"

[gweihir]

If these people were sane, they would have some minimum of common sense. They do not have that. Hence it is perfectly safe, as where there is nothing, nothing can get broken...

it saf

[pitchpipe]

i ben hakin my bren its ben rely gude. i wuz werried fur a bit butt my lernins ben rely takkin off.

Re:it saf

[Immerman]

Algernon, is that you?

Re: it saf

[Immerman]

Yeah, but who would get that reference out of the blue?

Besides, that mouse was a clever bastard, who knows what he was up to when left alone in the lab?

Of course

[Kardos]

I did it last week. Setting up the electrodes was the easy part. The hard part was setting up the electrodes!

No worries

[WaffleMonster]

If something were to go wrong you'd know it..

the internet circa 1995

[globaljustin]

I wouldn't take that chance with something as elementally "me" as my mind.

right? me neither...

problem is, there are tons of people willing to line up to do this...**tons**...and they will all surely blog about it in hopes of getting picked up by mainstream news publications

with this "brain mod" crap I'm getting a bad feeling...

remember back in the early days of the 'web'...say 1995 when AOL was king...we all knew that there was so much more that could be done with the internet but even then, the question was **are we willing to sacrifice privacy**

same with cell phones

i remember when the internet was new, everyone was skeptical of it & **assumed** what they did on the internet was not private...

then the commercialization effort started in earnest and before long every desk job required internet usage...

what I'm getting at is ***I feel that same feeling now***

SKEPTICAL...it's not what its made out to be...and if we ever *do* get hyper-selective brain stimulation I can only envision all the ways the tech could be misused

Re:the internet circa 1995

[khallow]

I can only envision all the ways the tech could be misused

Don't worry. There'll be a fix for that.

Re:the internet circa 1995

[david_thornley]

There'll be an app for that.

FTFY

Trepanation

[The Grim Reefer]

"The most prominent folk theory for the benefits of self-trepanation is offered by Bart Huges, alternatively spelled Bart Hughes and sometimes called "Dr. Bart Hughes", although he is not a doctor but rather a librarian by trade. He was better known for his advocacy of drug use and trepanation and in 1965 he drilled a hole in his own head with a Black and Decker power drill as a publicity stunt. Hughes claims that trepanation increases "brain blood volume" and thereby enhances cerebral metabolism in a manner similar to cerebral vasodilators such as ginkgo biloba. No published results have supported these claims."

I knew someone who wrote many letters and emails to Black and Decker back in the 1990's requesting a recommendation for which drill bit to use for self-trepanation. It was an amusing joke. He got dozens of panicky replies and was contacted by their lawyers who informed him that they did not support him using their power tools for medical procedures. He finally did receive a reply from someone with a sense of humor though. I kept a copy of that email chain for years.. I wish I still had it, or knew where it was.

Re:Trepanation

[russotto]

Modern technology has solved this problem, there's a drill bit linkage made for drilling a hole in your skull without damaging your brain.

Re:Trepanation

[gstoddart]

Ummm ... wow, really?

I wonder how many of those they sell.

Re:Trepanation

[ImprovOmega]

To neurosurgeons? A fair few I should imagine.

Be careful ...

[PPH]

... not to overclock or there might be consequences.

Re:Be careful ...

[hyades1]

'Way back in my last year of high school, a buddy of mine's older brother dropped by our "common room", where senior students were allowed to relax during spare periods and after school. The guy was well known for his spectacularly comprehensive use of recreational drugs.

So this guy sees that a chess game is just ending, and challenges the winner (one of our top players, as it happened). He took forever to make his moves, but it became obvious before long that he had the game in the bag. When our classmate resigned, my buddy's stoner brother turned around to us, tapped his head, and said, "It might not work as fast as it used to, but it still works".

Back up

[TheWingThing]

Better back up your firmware, just in case this makes you infirm.

Fleh

[Tablizer]

Asdfbbb asdf asdf su lkjasld asdbbb bb blkasdf aj

Re:zapping your own head?

[Tablizer]

I always wanted to open a Drive-Thru Lobotomy joint. Had difficulty raising funds. There was concern the exit was not sufficiently reinforced.
 

Question of safety is moot

[John Pfeiffer]

The kind of people who actually would have the means, motivation, and wherewithal to do this probably face at least as much risk and danger in their everyday hobbies and activities. (Serious tinkerers and the like who play with electricity, fire, chemicals, metalworking tools, lasers, plasma cutters, etc. day in and day out.)

It's when the technology goes 'As Seen On TV' and Joe Six-Pack can buy himself an "Easy-peasy dew-it-yerself brain-zappery kit" that the question of safety truly becomes relevant.

Is Lasik At Home Safe?

[locopuyo]

Is Lasik At Home Safe? http://www.lasikathome.com/

Re:Is Lasik At Home Safe?

[Smurf]

Ha!

Perhaps the most hilarious thing about that website are the photos of "Dr. Amir Khadim, M.D., Ph.D." with the device... He's wearing glasses!

(Yes, I know. Not all eyesight defects can be corrected by LASIK. Still it's bad publicity as it suggests lack of confidence in the device you are selling – or its effectiveness.)

You don't support our policies?

[tlambert]

You don't support our policies?

Don't worry, I'm sure we can change your mind...

Why not LSD?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want to enhance creativity and reduce depression, why not just drop some acid instead?
Probably a lot safer and more likely to produce the desired results.

Re:Why not LSD?

[captjc]

Because there are currently no laws against strapping electrodes to your head. There are laws against dropping LSD.

Re:What does that have to do with anything?

[kwbauer]

but that would have been back in the bad old days where the government didn't care about us. We have progressed so much since.

This quote says it all

[tgv]

Quote from the article: "Lee’s first plan was to use tDCS to learn German, but when he realized that language-learning would still be a huge time commitment, ..."
How serious can you take someone that thinks learning German is going to take a 10 minutes instead of 10 years because you strap a 9V battery to your head?

Re:This quote says it all

[drinkypoo]

How serious can you take someone that thinks learning German is going to take a 10 minutes instead of 10 years because you strap a 9V battery to your head?

Some people claim to have learned to understand various sorts of mathematics rapidly through the use of LSD, why not electricity? We only have vague notions of how memory or indeed thought actually works, we can only measure which parts of the brain are working so far. Big achievement to be sure, but it's hard to say what might be effective. Which is why it's daft to make yourself a guinea pig. Who knows what you will achieve, regardless of your intent?

Re:This quote says it all

[tgv]

We might not know much about memory, we do know that language learning requires many, correlated changes in the brain. You need to learn to identify German words, their meanings, classes and features, the rules which operate on these classes and their exceptions, and the combination of meanings, plus all kinds of idiomatic, opaque expressions. You cannot expect a bit of electricity to facilitate making those changes to all these different processes and still be "compatible" with each other much faster. And if you don't understand that about brain processes, why would you be able to claim aforementioned effects?

It sounds like medieval experimentation to me.

I'm all for it

[GauteL]

As long as foc.us will also sell me a replacement brain if something goes wrong.

Hmmm... let me think.

[Arancaytar]

Is it safe to electrocute your own brain?

This is going to be a bit of a puzzler.

Arrange a tDCS network party for best results!

[ctrl-alt-canc]

Invite a few friends, connect all your tDCS to a ethernet hub, then attach to the WAN side of the hub this device for best result.

Re:zapping your own head?

[Muad'Dave]

Your wish was once frighteningly true. Dr. Lobotomy used to drive around in his lobotomobile doing lobotomies with an ice pick.

"My brain? But that's my second favorite organ!"

[DutchUncle]

- Woody Allen, "Sleeper"

self-trepanation is the shizznit!

[Thud457]

The same thing we do every night, Pinky...

more light!

[Thud457]

These Canadians claim they can alleviate migraines for some patients with a magic electrical headband. But who's going to trust Canananadians?

never above the waist! and don't cross the streams

[Thud457]

oh god, those pictures! lolololololo! Definitely need to use one of those on my okcupid profile!

Plus, everybody knows, the proper pad placement is where the crease of you buttocks joins your thigh.

too close to electroschock therapy

[peter303]

I remember depictions of George Nash in the Beautiful Mind movie. He never did great math after that.

Re:never above the waist! and don't cross the stre

[obscuro]

Please, PLEASE, somebody mod this guy up FUNNY. LOL ROFLMAO