A pair of electrodes connected to a "smart" mobile phone causes a small electric shock, resulting in a change in the user's mental state, either "lifting" them like coffee, or on the contrary calming them.
This is the new proposal from the American company Thync, which is expected to be released on the market at the beginning of 2015, offering an alternative solution to anyone who wants to calm down or change their psychology, without resorting to medication or psychologists - and mainly by utilizing their increasingly "multitalented" mobile phone .
The company announced that it has received $13 million in funding from investors (venture capital funds) and has already proceeded with the relevant medical tests on 100 volunteers, which showed that the device can indeed have an almost immediate effect on the user's mental state, mainly by increasing the sense of calm and clarity of mind.
Although not everyone, some users in the tests reported that, within a few minutes, they felt very different. The effect, although it varies from person to person, lasts about 45 minutes.
It's a form of transcranial electrical stimulation. The device activates selected nerves and muscles just beneath the skin, rather than acting deep in the brain, according to Thync co-founder Jamie Tyler, a professor at the University of Arizona.
The electrodes start from the phone and end on the head behind the ear and on the neck, while the user only has to press a button on their mobile phone to activate the device.
The company is already looking at a similar device that would use ultrasound instead of electricity, targeting a range of psychiatric and neurological conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson's tremors. However, research into how ultrasound works on the brain is still in its early stages and will take some time.
Source: imerisia.gr
