Scientists successfully zap the brain into remembering more

Memory loss has long been known as a symptom of getting older, but we might be able to change that.
Scientists have discovered that passing a harmless electrical current through the brain for 25 minutes can help regain the loss of working memory in older people, a new study has found. While the long term success of this method has not yet been tested, the study raised "the prospect of new treatments," The Guardian reported.
The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on Monday, tested the "working memory," which is the neurological process that holds information for short periods of time so that we can use it for "cognitive tasks, from following a conversation to doing mental math," Stat News explained. The study tested this in younger and older participants by administering a simple memory test, which showed that younger people could accurately remember things about 90 percent of the time, while older people averaged about 80 percent. After stimulating certain areas of the brain with alternating current (AC), it was shown that the older participants could reach the level of 90 percent, even up to 50 minutes after the electric treatment.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The study presents evidence that "negative age-related changes are not unchangeable," said Robert Reinhart, the lead author of the study and a neuroscientist at Boston University. Additional research will be performed to determine whether this study can lead to a working treatment for memory loss.
Read more about the study at Stat News.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
The secrets of lab-grown chocolate
Under The Radar Chocolate created 'in a Petri dish' could save crisis-hit industry
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Trade war with China threatens U.S. economy
Feature Trump's tariff battle with China is hitting U.S. businesses hard and raising fears of a global recession
By The Week US
-
Corruption: The road to crony capitalism
Feature Trump's tariff pause sent the stock market soaring — was it insider trading?
By The Week US
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an egg
Speed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energy
Speed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
By Peter Weber, The Week US