Zapping brain unshackles the genius within

LONDON - Stimulating the brain with gentle shocks can boost your problem solving capacity almost overnight, besides providing you with flashes of inspiration.

Researchers have shown how a gentle surge of power can help the brain go around mental roadblocks and think laterally, which has a vital bearing on finding solutions to unyielding problems.

The controversial technique could help people bypass the humdrum of life and unlock one’s inner potential, said Professor Allan Snyder from the University of Sydney in Australia who led the research.

Intrigued by the discovery that certain types of brain damage can make people more receptive to new ideas, Snyder recruited 60 university students who agreed to have their brains zapped with electricity, the Daily mail reported quoting the journal Public Library of Science-ONE.

They were shown a series sums in which the numbers were replaced by Roman numerals made out of matchsticks. Each sum contained a mistake that could be corrected by moving just one matchstick, according to the report.

After solving numerous problems containing the same sort of error, a weak current was passed through a region called the anterior temporal lobe, which lies just in front of the ears.

The students were then given another set of matchstick problems to solve, this time with a different type of error.

Those who were zapped on the right side of the head did three times as well at solving the problems as the others.

This, according to Snyder, boosted the activity of brain cells governing insight.

Besides, the activity of the cells on brain’s left side used in processing the familiar might have been inhibited.