Thursday, May 21, 2015

A Look Into The TDCS Process

By Tammie Caldwell


This procedure is known as the transcranial direct current stimulation. This is a procedure that has gained prominence in use over the recent past. It entails the use of a current directed to a specific target on the brain using some electrodes. The process aims at creating some excitement to the brain neurons either by increasing this or reducing it. The stimulation was originally aimed at helping patients suffering from brain injuries such as the stroke patients. The tdcs has however been developed more and it has been realized that the procedure can help more in the therapy of other tasks.

The practice has also been used to enhance the attention span, mathematical abilities, memory loss, coordination, language and even problem solving. This depends with the location where the stimulation is intended to effect. The practice has been highly adapted in recent years as more people continue to learn of its merits. There are many studies that have been conducted to prove its safety and they have shown that it is safe for human use. This is however subject to proper maintenance of safety protocols.

The stimulation is done by passing some constant and direct current flow to the region of interest on the head using some electrodes. These electrodes are placed carefully on the scalp. They must be carefully placed at the designated areas to induce intracerebral current flow. If placed at the wrong areas, the process could result into some faults.

This current is then intended to raise or reduce the level of excitement by the neurons in the brain point of interest. The change effected causes the brain to react differently and thus induce some activities. This is what helps in enhancing some functions like attention span.

The process by which to successfully undertake this is relatively simple provided you have the right equipment and knowledge on how to carry it out. It needs only two electrodes which are the positively charged anode and the negatively charged cathode. Current is known to flow from the positive anode and then end up at the negatively charged cathode for a circuit to be complete. The current therefore flows through the conducting tissues which in this case are the brain neurons and creates an excitement in them as it passes.

The setting up involves properly preparing the skin where the electrodes will be placed. There need to be a strong connection between them and the skin for a successful procedure. The electrode pads are of different sizes and the smaller their size is, the more focused the stimulation they will deliver to the required point. One of the electrodes is placed at the point of interest while the other is placed in another point to ensure the circuit is complete.

The anode or cathode is placed on the place of interest and then the other is placed at the neck or shoulder. This is known as the reference electrode. The current is then allowed too flow freely from one end to another until the time set lapses. The flow can be gradually increased or decreased.

The recent studies have shown ways on how to greatly make this process more effective. This is by the use of multiple electrodes instead of two. Some multiple gel electrodes are placed at several points on the scalp to effectively deliver more current to multiple areas. The effects are therefore higher and more long lasting in this case.




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