Our memory tends to get worse as we age, and with a global population that's rapidly skewing older, that's something that scientists are trying to address – to keep us fully functioning for longer and to ward off dementia and diseases such as Alzheimer's.
suggests that mild, non-invasive electrical stimulation, applied through a cap with electrodes attached, could be enough to combat the effects of getting older and keep our memory circuits in a better and more robust shape.
In experiments conducted by researchers at Boston University, just 20 minutes of stimulation a day was enough to produce noticeable improvements in 2 types of memory function that lasted for at least a month. "Our findings demonstrate that the plasticity of the aging brain can be selectively and sustainably exploited using repetitive and highly focalized neuromodulation," write the researchers in theirHere's what the team did: in a series of experiments, 150 individuals between 65 and 88 years old were given 20 minutes of electrical brain stimulation a day for 4 consecutive days. At the same time, they were asked to listen to and recall 5 lists of 20 words each.
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