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Brain-Zapping Gadgets Need Regulation, Say Scientists (ieee.org)

the_newsbeagle writes: You can now buy gadgets online that send electric current through your scalp to stimulate your brain. Why would you want to do that? Because the easy technique, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is being investigated as a treatment for depression, a rehab aid for stroke patients, a learning enhancer for healthy people, and for many other neuropsychiatric applications.

However, the technique is so new that companies selling brain-zapping gadgets aren't bound by any regulations, and experts are worried that consumers will end up buying devices that aren't safe or simply aren't effective. So scientists and some manufacturers recently got together to discuss the scope of the problem, and what can be done about it.

Earlier IEEE reported that "Professional basketball, baseball, and American football teams are also experimenting with it," adding that some Olympic athletes, including sprinters and swimmers, even used a premarket version of one brain-zapping device to prepare for the Olympics in Rio.

5 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. THis is why they lock up the Dewalts and Makitas by goombah99 · · Score: 2

    People sneaking into Home Depot to treppan themselves has gotten to be a real problem so they had to lock up all the drills.

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

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  2. Re:Need Big Daddy Government by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

    And certainly not some simple studies done by private organizations a la Consumer Reports.

    But can you bribe Consumer Reports to force your competitors out of the market?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  3. Torn over regulation by Tablizer · · Score: 3

    One side of me says let Darwinism work its magic, but another side doesn't want to share roads with a guy having an IQ of 25.

  4. Re:Hmph... by Adriax · · Score: 3, Informative

    Isn't Samsung, a large multinational corporation with a huge quality control budget and a brand to protect, recalling their flagship phone because it's bursting into flames during charging?
    Tell us again how there is no actual danger from cheap, unregulated devices from sending a very narrow safe range of wattage through people's brains?

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    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  5. Re:THis is why they lock up the Dewalts and Makita by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    People sneaking into Home Depot to treppan themselves has gotten to be a real problem so they had to lock up all the drills.

    That is a silly overreaction. Instead of locking up the drills, they could have just locked up the forstner bits.