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That sounds promising — a zap of the brain to improve abilities. Sign me up!
Yes, it does sound interesting. And of interest is that it was high-frequency electrical noise stimulation that improved the performance.
Noise?
Yes, this is a new technique in place of other methods which sound more logical such as electrical or magnetic impulses. High frequency noise applied to the skull seems to excite brain cells (it’s not 100% clear why or how).
And this is what improved math ability in these cases?
Yes, precisely. But it is a little more nuanced than that. As a well-designed study there were control groups that received sham treatment but they had also measured something called the Excitation / Inhibition ratio.
What’s that?
Your brain cells are constantly turning on (excitation) and turning off (inhibition). This ratio on average needs to be in balance and it’s something that has come more into focus in neuroscience in recent years.
But in this case they noticed that some of the participants had higher or lower E/I ratios when doing maths. And in those with lower excitation doing maths (in the front of the brain) the noise stimulation improved maths scores.
