Brain Stimulation Improves Speech, Memory, Number Skill of Elderly and Stroke Victims

Seniorjournal.com: April, 2, 2012.
DCS can speed up word finding in healthy older people and stroke patients; helping to identify which parts of the brain should be stimulated – see video on tDCS in story

April, 2, 2012 – A symposium in Chicago explores the possibilities of improving speech, memory and numerical abilities of stroke victims and the elderly battling dementia. Many of the studies focus on tDCS – transcranial direct current stimulation -are seeking to cut that time significantly, with the help of non-invasive brain stimulation.

One of the most frustrating challenges for some stroke patients can be the inability to find and speak words even if they know what they want to say. Speech therapy is laborious and can take months. Several researchers see the possibility of speeding this process with the use of tDCS.

“Non-invasive brain stimulation can allow painless, inexpensive, and apparently safe method for cognitive improvement with potential long term efficacy,” says Roi Cohen Kadosh of the University of Oxford. Recent results, presented this week at a meeting of cognitive neuroscientists in Chicago, offer exciting possibilities for improving variety of abilities – from speech to memory to numerical proficiency. Read More