To Improve Memory, Tune It Like an Orchestra

Wouldn't listening to Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham's triplet patterns on the drums work?

It won't be widely available in the US until the details of how to build a cartel around the knowledge and delivery are worked out.

So were the participants in the study followed up at a later time to see if they had any side effects from the brain stimulation?

this is fantastic and gives me hope for the future. I have read that meditation also produces coupling throughout the brain. maybe while we wait for this to become available, we can meditate instead.

If it sends an electrical impulse into the brain, it is invasive; not surgically invasive, but invasive nonetheless. Try neurofeedback instead, which actually is non-invasive.

Is this what I have to look forward to? I see myself sitting in that old hair salon setting, with some big wired contraption on my head while I chat away with other old geezers, getting my brain done. Maybe hair too.

I'm wondering if this kind of stimulation could re-couple the synapses responsible for good hearing!

Please, please, please research what working memory is so that you can provide a more complete understanding of this study and its context in dementia. Working memory is the ability to hold information in your mind for processing for brief periods (typically seconds). For example, doing mental calculation such as calculating a tip is an example of working memory (keeping the bill amount in mind and applying the desired tip percentage). We also use working memory when trying to remember a phone number or other similar information for a brief period. This information is usually forgotten unless it is rehearsed, learned, and placed in permanent storage (long-term memory). While related, working memory is different from long-term memory, which is typically impaired in Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

This is nothing new. Back when I did not know there was a breaker panel to shut off power, I regularly got memory stimulation doing re-wiring or changing bulbs & fixtures. Now that I faithfully turn off the breaker first, my memory is slipping.

Interesting but clearly the research has a long way to go. The temporary affect of the electrical stimuli poses questions. 1. Longer term stimulation could be deleterious to normal synaptic function. 2. there are obviously _some_ parts of the brain one does not want artificially stimulated.

The most telling - and foreboding - line in the article mentions that in another experiment, Dr. Reinhart and Dr. Nguyen found tACS technology could decouple key brain regions and temporarily muddle the working memory of participants. A non-invasive way to muddle or possibly erase memory? The idea gives me a deep Orwellian shudder.

Actually this process is similar to what happens during proper and adequate sleep. Read the book “Why We Sleep” by the sleep scientist Matthew Walker. It is transformative and very well written.

Please hurry! Millions of people, probably billions actually, are at risk of suffering the condition this addresses. Makes perfect sense to address an electro-chemical process with some electrical stimulation as well as some chemical treatments. Seems like all the research has been on a "magic pill", i.e., the chemistry approach. Hopefully the HIH, et al, will get going too.