Improve Creativity With Brain Stimulation With TDCS

There has been a lot of focus on the brain in recent decades. Academics from all over the world and from different disciplines have invested a lot of time and money in researching it. But there is one topic in particular that has aroused great interest among researchers and the general public. Basically, they are interested in finding out how we humans can benefit from our abilities, how we can be rehabilitated and also how we can improve. In this regard, brain stimulation with tDCS is one of the most innovative technologies to accomplish this.

This is a – not fully explored – technique that induces electrical currents in the brain to modify or stimulate activity in certain areas. There are several types of stimulation, depending on the degree of invasion and the type of stimulation. Among the most common we have:

• Deep brain stimulation (DBS). This is a rather invasive type, as pulses or electrodes are implanted directly in a specific area of ​​the patient’s body or brain. Healthcare professionals typically use this technique for severe cases of Parkinson’s or genetically based tremors.
• Superficial brain stimulation. This includes types of less invasive brain stimulation, which is a breakthrough for science:
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) . A device is placed at the person’s scalp that generates magnetic fields that induce electric currents. These currents pass through the skull and stimulate the target area.
  • Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) . Here, electrodes are placed in the person’s scalp that release low-amplitude currents and either increase or decrease the activity of neurons in a specific part of the brain. Healthcare professionals apply this current either continuously (tDCS) or they apply it alternately (tACS).

The power of brain stimulation with tDCS

In general, brain stimulation with tDCS or tACS in humans is used to compensate for or alleviate certain deficiencies or disorders related to brain activity. In other words, the disorders for which it is used usually involve abnormal activity patterns, either due to excess or due to absence of activity. It can be said that brain stimulation helps to regulate the firing patterns of groups with nerve cells in specific areas.

For example, transcranial magnetic stimulation is often used to treat mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder), post-traumatic stress disorder, neuropathic pain and also stuttering.

For a similar reason, healthcare professionals can also use transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) to rehabilitate processes related to the cognitive, motor and sensory abilities of people with dementia or who have suffered a stroke.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have also made an almost science-fiction-like discovery using the latest brain stimulation technology. In their study, they presented a problem to a group of people which consisted of linking a collection of dots placed three and three using four dashes.

This exercise may seem simple. But it poses great difficulties for most people, even after they have received clues and help with a few steps. The researchers realized that in principle none of the participants could solve the problem.

However, after only 10 minutes of application of tDCS, almost half of them solved the task without difficulty. Those who did not receive brain stimulation still could not solve the problem.

Therefore, we ask ourselves, is it possible for this technology to do more than rehabilitate certain disorders? Can it improve human abilities?

Brain stimulation with tDCS may improve creativity

Furthermore, researchers have used other transcranial electrical stimulation techniques, such as tACS, in order to investigate neuronal oscillations and brain functions. But they have also used this technique by applying small currents to specific areas, related to motor functions, working memory and perceptual areas.

Recently, a research group at the University of North Carolina went ahead with the matter. They investigated the effects of brain stimulation on creativity. This ability consists of producing innovative ideas, as well as associating old concepts with new ones. It has also been associated with intelligence.

A group of North American researchers also performed creativity tests on a group of subjects both before and after the application of transcranial AC stimulation (tACS). As a result, they saw that by increasing the force of the alpha waves in the anterior cortex through transcranial stimulation, creativity also increased by 7.4%.

What comes next?

Undoubtedly, many researchers continue to investigate the use of brain stimulation to improve cognitive skills. There will probably be a time when everyone can improve their memory, the ability to make decisions or the ability to pay attention through brain stimulation. The question here, however, is… is this ethical? Would it make sense to apply brain stimulation just to get more creative?

However, there is still a long way to go to optimize the results produced by this type of intervention. On the other hand, while progress is being made with the aim of improving certain pathologies, almost everyone wants science to continue to advance in other areas as well.