Zapping your brain at home is here to stay

New York

THIS month, in the journal Annals of Neurology, four neuroscientists published an open letter to practitioners of do-it-yourself (DIY) brain stimulation. These are people who stimulate their own brains with low levels of electricity, largely for purposes such as improved memory or learning ability. The letter, which was signed by 39 other researchers, outlined what is known and unknown about the safety of such non invasive brain stimulation, and asked users to give careful consideration to the risks.

For the past three years, I have been studying DIY brain stimulators. Their conflict with neuroscientists offers a fascinating case study of what happens when experimental tools normally kept behind the closed doors of academia - in this case, transcranial direct current stimulation - are appropriated for use outside them.