Health security

Neuroscience researchers caution public about hidden risks of self-administered brain stimulation

The growing trend of "do-it-yourself" transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) poses hidden risks to healthy members of the public who seek to use the technique for cognitive enhancement. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, along with several members of the (cognitive) neuroscience research community warn about such risks involved in home use of tDCS, the application of electrical current to the brain. Their Open Letter will appear in the July 7th issue of Annals of Neurology.

tDCS devices are made up of a band that wraps around one's head with electrodes placed at specific scalp locations to target specific brain regions which transmit varying levels of electrical current to the brain to achieve the desired result, such as an enhanced state of relaxation, energy, focus, creativity, or a variety of other goals. Because tDCS devices are easily made from simple tools, the practice of self-administered brain stimulation by the lay community has grown in recent years.