Hi,
I am a science writer, working for the first science popularization magazine in France: Science & Vie (paid circulation: 300 000).
I am investigating a quite exciting topic : cognitive enhancement by tDCS. It should be the cover story of a coming issue of Science & Vie.
I don't want to write a review or a "state of the art" paper, but rather I'd like to address the fact that tDCS is a fairly easy and cheap technique, and thus it could be appealing to a lot of people. After all, this technique promises to help to enhance some of important cognitive skills.: there are a few studies indeed which show that short sessions of tDCS can improve working memory, the ability to detect concealed details in a scene, mathematical abilities, ... (see attached).
So I thought that among the hackerspaces around the world, some of them might already be crafting projects relying on tDCS... And I stumbled upon the "Biofeedback, Brain Hacking" section on brmlab website. I understand that you have already made a tDCS device. I'd really like to learn more about this project. Would you agree to answer the few following questions,it would be of great help.
1/ When did brmlab get interested in tDCS and why ? How many people are involved, and what skills do they have ?
2/ How did you design the tDCS device ? What kind of difficulties did you encounter ?
3/ Have you already done experiments with it ? If so, what sort of experiments ? Did they work ? What kind of risk did you have to take into account (electrical, physiological ...) ?
4/ What do you expect using tDCS ?
Thanking you in anticipation for your help,
- Note that if you'd prefer to chat on IRC rather than write a reply, it's ok by me; just tell me when I should join the brmlab channel and what nickname to look for,
kind regards,
Francois Lassagne