Not a big fan of tdcs. It is risky compared to the much safer ces albeit ces isnt as effective.
I would highly recommend doing further research before trying this out. Brainwave stimulation is a powerful technique but it is solely dependent upon the frequency of the stimulation. As long as you constantly monitor for the amps and keep them very low it is considered safe. No offense intended but just by the way you termed it “zapping” the brain I am a bit concerned that you haven’t done enough research.
In brief here is how this technology works. The brain has a frequency following response. This means that when your brain detects a frequency through any of your 11+ senses, a strong and persistent signal will trigger the neurons in at least part of the brain to try and match the perceived frequency. After tuning into the frequency, the brain, if exposed enough, can more easily access that freq at will. And each frequency has a corresponding effect on the body, or conversely, the body can better perform a task if part of the brains neurons are firing at a given rate. Your neurons are the highways of thought. They act as conduits to transfer information from one glial cell (astrocytes mainly) to another. The glial cell is currently understood to be the root of thought. Most highschool textbooks still refer to the “neuron doctrine” and claim the neurons are the root of thought but that has been largly debunked for a while now. For more reading check out “the root of thought”.
The brain naturally goes through the different brainwave states delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon which also correspond to your state of conscious arousal. For instance you normally attain delta brainwave patterns when sleeping, theta when in a semi awake state, alpha when you are zoned out but awake and beta when you are concentrating.
Brainwave entrainment can be beneficial for helping your brain more easily hit a specific brainwave pattern and can help with several issues such as depression, insomnia, difficulty concentrating and so on.
This is much more intricate than merely zapping ones brain which makes me think more of ECT which I am not a proponent of. I understand tdcs isn’t as strong of a zap by far but still. In addition to ces there are other alternatives such as audio and visual that most use. Using multiple methods enhances the effects on the brain by much the same principle that applies to memorization with more stimuli creating a bigger impact.
I have personally used the David pro in addition to an EEG device I own to do neuro feedback training. When using it regularly with sessions I developed myself I noticed a dramatic increase in fluidity and clarity of thought. I was employing freq that acted as a strenuous mental workout as well as improving cognition.
As far as I know the only negative side effects are occasional hissing sounds and spontaneous bursting of flames and smoke from the left temporal lobe. Just kidding it is very safe.
There are rumored to be freq that are “bad” for ones health but those are speculative and way out of range for most brainwave entrainment devices. If the idea of using a ces device is bothersome I recommend trying the audio or visual entrainment. Some people are sensitive to blinking lights and if this is you then stick with audio. The main audio techniques are binaural beats and isochronic beats. Binaural must be done with headphones.
I hope this was informative to anyone interested in this technology.
IAmMan 3 years, 7 months ago.
