Jonah Lehrer is an editor at large for Seed Magazine. His first book is Proust Was A Neuroscientist. Buy it here.
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Category: Brain & Behavior
Posted on: May 20, 2008 2:56 PM, by Jonah Lehrer
There's something a little scary to me about TMS. (I should note, though, that my fear is irrational: the technology is now extremely safe. Seizures are a very, very rare side-effect of TMS. Unless, that is, you already have a brain lesion.) But this video shows just how easy it is to short-circuit a particular brain function. I particularly liked the elegant dissociation between speech and singing:
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Comments
What about OCD? Phobias? Bipolar disorder? Depression?
On the downside, I could see this tried with higher power levels for 're-education' (as torture). I think that would be more frightening as a deterrent than the prospect of execution, living on indefinitely after literally losing your mind.
Posted by: CRM-114 | May 20, 2008 6:51 PM
Wow. That is incredibly cool! How do you feel about ECT? It's not exactly what "A Beautiful Mind" makes it out to be.
Posted by: scicurious | May 21, 2008 8:25 AM
Upon seeing the abbreviation, TMS, your prior post concerning back pain and tension myositis syndrome sprang to mind. Good thing that's another topic altogether!
Posted by: Alan | May 21, 2008 10:35 AM
Very interesting, but let's be clear: no one knows whether TMS is truly safe in the long term. in fact, many think it does have long term effects (hence its use for treating depression) and so it seems possible that some of those are negative.
This is a HUGE unknown, and while I wouldn't go so far as to say people who use it are irresponsible, I am comfortable saying that their institutional review boards probably are.
Posted by: CHCH | May 21, 2008 4:49 PM
All I am able to see is an error message: "The video you are trying to watch cannot be viewed from this website." Do you have a link instead?
Posted by: Sandra | May 25, 2008 4:41 AM