Nice collection of montages with reference to related studies from tDCS Australia .Goes well with tDCSPlacements.com.
This site has shut down. I was able to find a link to a cached version of the montages page at Archive.org. Alternately, here is a pdf of their montage page.
http://youtu.be/7YpN2gui2kE
[Update 2/28/15] I’ve been re-stacking the post order lately around whatever seems especially significant or interesting. This is the only device I’ve seen so far with dual electrode (sets of) capacity and I’m curious to hear if anyone has used the ApeX device.]
A device I’ve not seen previously. Looks to be simple to understand and well-crafted. Will have to wait for the Redditors to take it apart to know what’s inside. Looks like a one man operation, Claude Barreto. Reasonably priced as well. Interesting that you have to agree to the Terms and Conditions of Sale before you can get to the order form. I’m intrigued by the dual electrode option. That one could apply tDCS to two locations simultaneously is, I think, new for any of the DIY-level tDCS devices. [I am not affiliated with this or any other device mentioned on the site.]
Website: http://www.apexdevice.net/
via @MaromBikson Download links below.
Despite increased knowledge, and more sophisticated experimental and modeling approaches, fundamental questions remain about how electricity can interact with ongoing brain function in information processing or as a medical intervention. Specifically, what biophysical and network mechanisms allow for weak electric fields to strongly influence neuronal activity and function? How can strong and weak fields induce meaningful changes in CNS function? How do abnormal endogenous electric fields contribute to pathophysiology? Topics included in the review range from the role of field effects in cortical oscillations, transcranial electrical stimulation, deep brain stimulation, modeling of field effects, and the role of field effects in neurological diseases such as epilepsy, hemifacial spasm, trigeminal neuralgia, and multiple sclerosis.
Can’t vouch for the veracity of this diagram, but I like the format of the information and hope we can evolve a useful diagram that would also track (link to) specific tDCS studies that confirm the relationship of electrode-placement/brain-function. Via Reddit User cellavy
The first type of meditation I practice is the standard “focus” meditation that is taught on headspace.com, and there are great walk-throughs there. I use tDCS to calm the conscious mind by placing the cathode on FpZ the center of the forehead and the anode at OZ center of the back of the head. I do this montage for 5–10 minutes, then remove the electrodes and meditate, focusing on my breath, for 10–15 minutes. I usually do this in the morning, and afterwards, I usually place the anode at FpZ and cathode on upper left arm and run the current for another 5–10 minutes. I find this is helpful in getting into work mode.
My sense is that the author’s experience is very similar to that of most tDCS DIYers – an initial flurry of interest followed by frustration at not knowing if ‘it’s working’. That’s why it’s exciting to see easily replicated protocols for self-testing emerging around the Dual N-Back game that is available for free. http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/download.html
A device mentioned in the article is J.D. Leadam’s ‘Brain Stimulator’ http://thebrainstimulator.net (No affiliation)
We’d decided to try the “accelerated learning” montage that had been developed and tested by DARPA. The best test of the device we could come up with was to play Nintendo Wii Mario Kart while brain zapping for 20 minutes — our performance seemed easily measurable (we would just play the same course, over and over) and a lot less violent. At first I was miserable, my green dinosaur avatar, Yoshi, falling off the track on every hairpin turn and barely finishing the course in 3:30. By the end, though, I was cracking 3:00. Of course, there was no control here, no way to tell whether I was simply learning a new skill, but I was cautiously optimistic.
In the weeks that followed, I stuck to it, undertaking 20 minutes of tDCS four to five days a week. I decided to try to teach myself interactive web design, and whenever I’d run the current through my brain, I’d accompany it with 20 minutes on Code Academy, the teach-yourself-to-code megasite. But after a few weeks, the results I was looking for seemed elusive. I was obviously getting better at coding, but there was no way for me to know what role the electricity was playing. And it was still kind of painful. So I quit, and about two months after visiting Bikson’s lab, my tDCS device is gathering dust on a shelf in my office.
via I want to be your neuroscience experiment | Al Jazeera America.
User x0rn just posted this to the tDCS SubReddit. Check original source (link at bottom) for updates.
Simple Montage list with electrode placement and research sources.(self.tDCS)
by x0rn
via Simple Montage list with electrode placement and research sources. : tDCS.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 23:15 — 32.1MB)
Jesse interviews Nathan Whitmore, creator of the open-source project OpenBrainStim, an affordable alternative to commercial transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) devices. Nathan tells us how the project got started, how the “DIY-tCDS” community has grown, and how you can experiment from the comfort of your own home.
via Do-It-Yourself Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation – Smart Drug Smarts.
Brent Williams of SpeakWisdom just published a checklist for DIY tDCSers. Links at bottom to full list.
DIY tDCS Safety Standards
As a potential or current do-it-yourself tDCS user I agree to the following:
1. I will, if reasonably possible, seek out a medical professional for tDCS advice, treatments and follow-up.
2. If I have cranial scar tissue, an implant, or other unusual medical condition, I will seek clearance from my doctor before using tDCS. If I have a seizure disorder I will refrain from using tDCS or use it only under direct supervision of qualified medical personnel.
3. I will not, under any circumstances, directly connect a battery to my head. I understand that I could greatly exceed the maximum 2 mA current limit used by tDCS researchers, possibly harming myself in the process.
Jared Seehafer wearing his homemade tDCS device.
Courtesy of Amy Standen
That’s what Jared Seehafer did. He’s a 28-year-old medical device consultant in San Francisco who heads the group.
He made his own tDCS machine using an elastic headband and a couple of electrodes. It’s powered by a 9-volt battery and produces 1 to 2 milliamps of electricity, approximately what it takes to light one small LED bulb.
via Hacking The Brain With Electricity: Don’t Try This At Home : Shots – Health News : NPR.
Regarding the transients at turn on, that is a circuit issue. So to remedy, it is easy to add an LC filter at the output see picture below for new schematic. The LC filter acts to dampen any transients. Bench testing shows the ramp up to be 500ms, which is plenty to dampen any turn on pulses, but unfortunately not enough to prevent any flash that occurs with certain montages. At mouser.com, the L can be 22R105C and the C can be UKL1E100KDDANA.
via Insight, a growth project driven by tDCS: A little less Simple DIY TDCS circuit using CRDs.
Petr, whose first language is Czech, asks…
12.3 2013
Ramping capacitor – possible problem
Yesterday i was building some tDCS with LM334 and try for first time use ramping capacitor. When i test device with load (5KOhms) all was ok ramping when i turn device on and ramping down when off. But when i change load (5kOhms potentiometer) during stimulation (testing) it create current peak up to 5 mA. I test it with few different capacitor and behavior is always the same (only different value of peak and the time to return to normal ). Device without capacitor work without problem. In result of this i use instead of capacitor serial load ( linear potentiometer 100kOhms ) allows me to do manual ramping (0,07mA to setup current).
My question is can anybody test this capacitor problem maybe i do something wrong, bad multimeter etc.. . If this problem is real, it’s a very bad idea to use capacitor for ramping in use the resistance change is not too quick but still can cause pretty high current peaks.
via Insight, a growth project driven by tDCS: Simple DIY TDCS circuit using CRDs.
Brent Williams of SpeakWisdom (we met him earlier on the blog) has started a YouTube tDCS series. This is his second in the series. This is an excellent overview of the basic components of tDCS, however, Brent does not recommend you actually build
and use a resistor-based device. Brent mentions that upcoming videos will demonstrate how to build a current-regulated device.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9iId0Aen2g
