Just so we're clear: when you say "electric shock therapy" you're talking about electroconvulsive therapy, which uses a strong shock to induce a seizure (under

Just so we're clear: when you say "electric shock therapy" you're talking about electroconvulsive therapy, which uses a strong shock to induce a seizure (under anaesthesia). It's actually the seizure itself which is therapeutic, which should give you an idea of the severity of the conditions it's used to treat: ECT is a last-resort treatment which can be lifesaving for severe depression, schizophrenia, or catatonia which are unresponsive to medication. There are less extreme alternatives being studied, but as of today ECT is still the magic bullet in some severe cases. Anyway, this article is not about ECT, but transcranial direct current stimulation. tCDS is a completely different concept that uses much lower voltage, applied continuously in the direction of neuron activation, to promote activity and possibly growth. It's been used by healthy individuals to try to boost cognition, and it's certainly exciting to hear it may have real therapeutic indications as well.