Zap to the brain 'helps solve puzzles' - "transcranial direct current stimulation" (follow up)

Zapping the brain with an electrical current can help people solve difficult problems

Increasing activity of the right anterior temporal lobe can increase insight and inspiration

Researchers in Australia found that volunteers who received electrical stimulation of the brain's anterior temporal lobes were three times more likely to be able to figure out an unfamiliar puzzle than those who did not get a zap.

Richard Chi and Allan Snyder, from the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney said the current can provide people with a flash of inspiration under pressure.

They explained that people often find it difficult to be creative because they continue to adopt practices that have been successful before.

However, they believed that an electrical current can stimulate parts of the brain that help us solve problems and encouraging us to be more creative.

The scientists said that the use of "transcranial direct current stimulation" alters the activity of populations of brain cells, manipulating competition between the right and left sides of the brain.
They explained that inhibiting the activity of the left anterior temporal lobe can lead to thinking that is influenced less by preconceptions. Increasing activity of the right anterior temporal lobe can increase insight and inspiration.

The findings were published in the journal Plos One.

http://www.plosone.org/home.action