Electrical stimulation of the brain can help you find the car in the parking lot

The study was carried out on a significant number of patients do not - 7 people, and so it can not be absolutely certain, but the original data has intrigued scientists. In addition, it is not clear whether electrostimulation have a similar effect on people not patients with epilepsy, but if further tests are successful, this method of improving memory can help people suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

The study was a taxi driver in the virtual game. Patients were required to deliver passengers to a specific landing site. The scientists studied the brain stimulated as soon as they learned how to get there, but not for all landing sites.

It was found that patients are more memorable itinerary after electrical stimulation. They performed the task quicker and shorter routes selected initially proposed.

"They even learned how to cut corners, reflecting the improvement in spatial memory," - said Dr. Itzhak Fried, professor of neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Since stimulation was carried out only during the training phase, we can conclude that the constant exposure is required, says Fried. Such a device implanted in the brain, can be activated only in certain cases requiring memory enhancement.

"However, it is too early to say that this electrical stimulation can be used to con- improving memory of patients with Alzheimer's disease," - says Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a psychiatrist at Brown University and Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. "And even if deep brain stimulation lead to better memory in Alzheimer's disease, the consequences can carry a temporary nature, if they do not oppose the degeneration of the brain that occurs in people with this disease," - said the doctor.