Overclock your brain today!

[kro]

I stumbled across this WTF, and I'm not sure this tech is completely safe.
I wonder what kind of things could be done if being used for negative purposes.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/162581-foc-us-the-first-commercial-tdcs-headset-that-lets-you-safely-overclock-your-brain

After an interminable wait, the first brain-boosting tDCS headset has finally received FCC approval and will begin shipping in the next few days.

Dubbed the Foc.us, the headset jolts your prefrontal cortex with electricity, improving your focus, reaction time, and ability to learn new skills.

The Foc.us is being targeted at gamers looking to improvetheir skillz, but tDCS has the potential to improve — or more accurately to overclock — almost every aspect of your life.


Its kind of like smoking cannabis for the first time ever!

 

[WebSearchingPro]

Wonder if people will try upping the voltages to see if the affects felt are stronger.

 

[MannDude]

Its kind of like smoking cannabis for the first time ever!

 

It's going to make me think the mailboxes I pass by on my stroll through a neighborhood have personality and remind me of individuals I know base don their different styles/designs? Then continue my walk to Sonic where I eat like 5 pounds of food?

 

 

Err, anyhow, interesting technology. I don't wish to strap a device to my head, I'll stick to coffee if I want to increase my speed.

 

[kro]

Wonder if people will try upping the voltages to see if the affects felt are stronger.

AHHAHAHA you know it. Who will be the first to officially get fried. 

 

It's going to make me think the mailboxes I pass by on my stroll through a neighborhood have personality and remind me of individuals I know base don their different styles/designs? Then continue my walk to Sonic where I eat like 5 pounds of food?

 

 

Err, anyhow, interesting technology. I don't wish to strap a device to my head, I'll stick to coffee if I want to increase my speed.

My head... hurts. Tails can fly.


These devices will replace coffee, because the effort required to make it !

 

[shawn_ky]

Wow... Scary. I don't know that I would ever try this... 

 

[egihosting]

Portable electric chair! I wonder if there are any large scale scientific studies showing that a jolt of electricity actually does what they claim it does.

 

[WebSearchingPro]

Its an interesting concept, would be quite funny if it was just a placebo effect. It appears that the electrodes are not actually in contact with the skin, so it could be the weak ambient energy from the electrodes that give the effects.

Would be interesting to try it, this could be one of those things that revolutionize the world and supercharge the speed at which technology is pacing.(granted it doesn't fry our brain with long term exposure)

 

[happel]

Honestly I think this product isn't likely to improve performance much. 

 

Assuming the stimulation of this device has a significant positive effect, only applying current to the prefrontal cortex is just plain wrong. The human brain is a very complex piece of machinery, every task your brain executes is a collaboration of multiple (mostly specialized) brain areas. So your brain 'overclock' should be task specific. Funny thing is that while the prefrontal cortex is very important for the higher brain functions, it isn't really that active when gaming . 

 It appears that the electrodes are not actually in contact with the skin,

The electrodes are connected to the skin through wet sponges, which is to protect the skin I suppose.

Wow... Scary. I don't know that I would ever try this... 

Me neither, we know very little about the brain. The long term effects of this technology might not be pretty.

 

[mikho]

The electrodes are connected to the skin through wet sponges, which is to protect the skin I suppose.

It's to get better "connection". Water leads electricity better.

 

[Maximum_VPS]

Late to this but wow .... cant wait to see the effects "long term".