Ingenious Minds- Treatment for Social Skills

Watch Ingenious Minds Thursdays @ 10pm! | For more, visit http://science.discovery.com/tv/ingenious-minds | John Robison believes a Harvard University method, involving regular treatments of magnetic brain stimulation, could improve his ability to relate emphatically to others.

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[chris11sholtz]

TMS is very focused. it targets an area about the size of a centimeter cubed. they aren't just randomly inducing/hindering electrical signals in the brain. its damn expensive though, or i'd have it done. the effects aren't permanent, but the results are promising. an implanted chip with a battery that selectively delivers a small electrical current would be best. this has already been done on more severe cases of schizophrenia.

[subh1]

@fuunguus What makes you conclude that it is done in a "random" way and years of study & research has not been put behind learning and understanding how and where to do the treatment? Science and medical treatment are not fanciful wimp of some mad people.. they are outcomes of dedicated research of hundreds over decades. You should do some Googling and self study before babbling out some really random hypotheses.

[CorruptReaper]

@fuunguus the explanation of the treatment is extremely generalized. I don't know too much about this specific procedure but in your comparison with LSD here are a couple differences (mainly between a chemical and electrical approach). Chemicals are absorbed into the body leaving lasting effects and side effects and each person metabolizes things differently where as all humans are (generally) the same in terms of how we react with different fields. not enough room to fully explain, lots more!

[fuunguus]

I know that stimulating neurons will make them create new connections, but since the stimuli is rather random how will any of the new connections be beneficial aka help his condition? Naturally there is a whole system behind generating these connections, and it is not random. My point is that this treatment seems more like a shot in the dark, there is nothing suggesting it will help. Could as well just inject LSD into that spot in the brain, it also stimulates and creates lots of connections.

[fuunguus]

I know that stimulating neurons will make them create new connections, but since the stimuli is rather random how will any of the new connections be beneficial aka help his condition? Naturally there is a whole system behind generating these connections, and it is not random. My point is that this treatment seems more like a shot in the dark, there is nothing suggesting it will help. Could as well just inject LSD into that spot in the brain, it also stimulates and creates lots of connections.