London, July 07: It’s often said that the spark of genius lurks hidden within all of us. And, now scientists have claimed that a “thinking cap” which could enhance the brain’s ability to learn has moved a step closer.
A team at the University of British Columbia came to this conclusion after it carried out a study which found that magnets could boost brain power.
In fact, the scientists discovered that the ability of the brain to learn a task and remember was greatly enhanced when a magnetic pulse was applied to the premotor cortex ie, the area of the brain just behind the forehead.
According to lead scientist Lara Boyd, the technique could be used to enhance intellectual capacity and help those with learning difficulties and eventually lead to a “thinking cap”, The Daily Telegraph reported.
“With this tool we hope to be able to promote learning in patient populations who otherwise have great difficulty in acquiring new motor skills. We are actively investigating this possibility right now in my lab,” she said.
In their study, the scientists tested the ability of 30 volunteers to track a target on a computer screen with a red dot using a joystick.
During the task, the target would move randomly, then enter a programmed pattern and finally return to moving randomly. The participants were not aware of the repeated section, believing that movements were random throughout.
Some of the volunteers had their brain stimulated by magnets while others did not. Those participants who received the stimulation were significantly better than other groups at tracking the target during the repeated section of the test.
They showed no significant difference in improvement during the random sections, according to the findings in the BMC Neuroscience journal.
–PTI