More on better living through zapping your brain.

Anna Altman has done an entertaining piece on transcranial direct-current stimulation, or tDCS, which I have mentioned in numerous previous mindblog posts (enter tDCS in the mindblog search box). You can make your own tDCS machine from parts obtained at Radio Shack for ~ $20 or buy one off the web for $90. Various reports have shown enhanced alertness and learning, and palliative medical effect on chronic pain, stroke rehabilitation, and depressive disorders. Researchers go to lengths to warm of the potential downside effect of DIY (do it yourself) public experimentation. And indeed, so what if tDCS gives a bit of a boost?..

“Is brain boosting a fair addition to the cognitive enhancement arms race? Will it create a Morlock/Eloi-like social divide where the rich can afford to be smarter and leave everyone else behind? Will Tiger Moms force their lazy kids to strap on a zappity helmet during piano practice?” Or, she asks, “Could school-age girls use the zappy cap while studying math to drown out the voices that tell them they can’t do math because they’re girls?”