back to article Magno stimulation makes brain learn skills better - boffins

Canadian brainbox brainboxes have found that cunningly targeted "magnetic stimulation" of the brain can help test subjects to learn manual skills. A subject undergoing magnetic brain stimulation Thinks: Soon I shall be INVINCIBLE Lara Boyd and Meghan Linsdell of the University of British Columbia have published the results …

COMMENTS

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  1. Joe K
    Boffin

    Well thats handy

    I'm sure learning to juggle a bit faster is well worth a brain tumour.

  2. Goatan
    Boffin

    Note to self

    Buy large magnet,

    Tape to head,

    Watch Bruce Lee movies,

    Know kung fu.

  3. Apocalypse Later
    Alien

    Bonce augmentation

    So, tinfoil NOT the way to go, then?

  4. Andy 70

    what kind of motor neuron interactions?

    so when can i learn the piano or guitar in 30 mins not 30 years?

  5. King Edward I

    Ahh...

    So in the matrix, it's NOT a data pin going into the plug in the back of their necks, it's an electro magnet!

  6. Peyton
    Coat

    What they neglect to mention

    Subjects were better at manipulating the joystick with the new, third arm that they grew after repeated exposure.

    I'll just have a handful of ritalin, thx.

  7. Sweep

    Gonna get me some mangoes

    I misread the title, obviously.

  8. Jimboom
    Heart

    Magno Stimulation

    Mmmm. I like it when you talk dirty like that.

  9. Stef 4

    So...

    ... magnetic fields near your head don't cause brain tumours any more. My dad will be so pleased. Oh, wait, no he won't. He's dead from a brain tumour.

  10. Trevor 3

    @Sweep

    Awesome, truly awesome.

    I'm going to strap a couple of them to my head and go free running.

  11. Robert Ramsay
    FAIL

    @Peyton

    Magnetism is not the same as radiation. You can't cause mutations with magnetism.

  12. Neil 13

    We should train them all in brain surgery

    ... so they can deal with the extra tumour cases that'll arise from people running magnetic fields through their heads.

  13. Steve Foster
    FAIL

    @tumourmongers

    We all live on a rock with an all-encompassing permanent magnetic field. Please hitch a ride on the next available space Shuttle and ask to be dropped off on the moon if you want to escape it.

    Expect to die from radiation poisoning long before the alleged magnetic-field-induced tumours have a chance to kill you.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    hey why not....

    get these idiot scientists to strap a bunch of mobile phones (with SAR = 2.0) and strap them to all our leading MP's and get them to ring each other, or even better, get them to track each other with GPS and browse thier location via google earth lookup....

    now a few weeks later...

    either mobile phones get banned and the networks ripped down, or we need to run elections for new MP's cos they all died of brain cancer....

    WIN-WIN all round i think.... bring it on :)

    mecha man... cos hes the only one who could survive having his brain (or cybernetic AI) cooked by all the microwaves...

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Megaphone

    I had ECT

    and now I can see rats that ordinary human beings can't see. It's a medical fact!

  16. Peyton
    Grenade

    @@peyton

    oy vey. I'm inclined to doubt perfectly formed supernumerary appendages would be the result of any amount of radiation... when I think radiation fallout, I tend to think limbs are more likely to fall off...

    But the green white colorblind can feel free to google oh I dunno 'effect of static magnetic field on mutation frequency and cellular response to DNA damage in budding yeast Saccaromyces cerevisiae'

  17. Big Pete
    Alien

    I knew there was a reason...

    I kept those old Wharfdale E50 speakers, the magnets on the back of the subwoofers will make a good learning tool.

    I'll be the guy with the speaker magnet taped to his head.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    @@@peyton

    That article shows that no increase in mutation frequency was detected for fields up to 2T. The machine they used in the brain stimulation experiment only goes up to 1T or so, and that's at the surface. So, your article actually suggests that magnetic transcranial stimulation is harmless as far as mutation is concerned.

    What's more, all the common sources of magnetic fields around you - cellphones, domestic appliances, power lines, etcetera - produce fields in the range of small fractions of a milliT. So, your article also suggests that every magnetic field we're routinely exposed to is harmless, with a margin of several orders of magnitude.

    So, given that you've nicely provided some evidence that static magnetic fields are harmless, I take it that your sarcasm was actually directed at all the other morons who think they cause cancer?

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Mango stimulation makes brain learn skills better

    dont panic mangos are one of your five a day..

  20. Peyton
    FAIL

    @actard

    @@peyton means I'm commenting on a post, not the article.

    From the post: "You can't cause mutations with magnetism."

    The article refutes this statement.

    To possibly head off more comments - Not only do I not think electromagnetic radiation is of major oncogenic concern, I honestly don't care. The coat icon, my lousy grammar, etc., etc., were intended to be clues that I was being flippant... to that end, I'll go ahead and assign myself an appropriate icon.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    I think this has got to be

    bad news for the X-men

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