Magnets could eventually be used to compensate for memory problems caused by dementia.

Scientist have used magnetic stimulation to improve people’s memory, new research reports.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, helped people remember things they had heard more accurately.

The magnetic stimulation worked when it matched the natural theta waves of the brain.

Dr Sylvain Baillet, one of the study’s authors, explained:

“For a long time the role of theta waves has been unclear.

We now know much more about the nature of the mechanisms involved and their causal role in brain functions. For this study, we have built on our strengths at The Neuro, using MEG, EEG and TMS as complementary techniques.”

The results suggest that magnetic stimulation could have all kinds of uses, said Dr Philippe Albouy, the study’s first author:

“Now we know human behavior can be specifically boosted using stimulation that matched ongoing, self-generated brain oscillations.

“Even more exciting is that while this study investigated auditory memory, the same approach can be used for multiple cognitive processes such as vision, perception, and learning.”

The study was published in the journal Neuron (Albouy et al., 2017).

Image credit: Saad Faruque

Source: PsyBlog