Recurrent themes in the history of the home use of electrical stimulation: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and the medical battery (1870–1920)
Recurrent themes in the history of the home use of electrical stimulation: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and the medical battery (1870–1920)
复制标题
家庭使用电刺激历史上反复出现的主题：经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 和医用电池 (1870-1920)
DOI：
10.1016/j.brs.2016.11.081
复制
发表时间：
2017
影响因子：
7.7
通讯作者：
Anna Wexler
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Anna Wexler
近年来，神经科学家和伦理学家对未经监督的家庭使用经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）的危险发出了警告，在这种情况下，个人用低水平的电流刺激自己的大脑，以达到自我完善的目的。尽管tDCS的家庭使用通常被认为是一种新现象，但实际上，19世纪末和20世纪初，家用电刺激装置的数量激增。特别是，医疗电池的使用与tDCS的现代使用有许多惊人的相似之处。目的：本文回顾了一些被认为是目前日间使用的脑刺激的独特特征，特别关注tDCS和医疗电池之间的类比。方法档案研究在巴肯博物馆和美国医学协会的历史健康欺诈档案馆进行。结果当代家用tdcs的许多特征——DIY运动、反对医疗机构的主题、外行和专业使用之间的冲突——都是一个世纪前关于医疗电池的主题的重复。然而，许多特征似乎是当前独有的，例如关于风险和安全的主导话语，颅和非颅刺激之间的区分，以及用于增强认知目的的利用。从长远来看，当代在家中使用电刺激并不是一种新现象，而是外行人利用电进行治疗的一系列尝试中的最新一波。
BackgroundIn recent years, neuroscientists and ethicists have warned of the dangers of the unsupervised home use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in which individuals stimulate their own brains with low levels of electricity for self-improvement purposes. Although the home use of tDCS is often referred to as a novel phenomenon, in reality the late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a proliferation of electrical stimulation devices for home use. In particular, the use of an object known as the medical battery bears a number of striking similarities to the modern-day use of tDCS.ObjectiveThis article reviews a number of features thought to be unique to the present dayhomeuse of brain stimulation, with a particular focus on analogies between tDCS and the medical battery.MethodsArchival research was conducted at the Bakken Museum and at the American Medical Association's Historical Health Fraud Archives.ResultsMany of the features characterizing the contemporary home use tDCS—a do-it-yourself (DIY) movement, anti-medical establishment themes, conflicts between lay and professional usage—are a repetition of themes that occurred a century ago with regard to the medical battery. A number of features, however, seem to be unique to the present, such as the dominant discourse about risk and safety, the division between cranial and non-cranial stimulation, and utilization for cognitive enhancement purposes.Conclusion(s)Viewed in the long durée, the contemporary use of electrical stimulation at home is not a novel phenomenon, but rather the latest wave in a series of ongoing attempts by lay individuals to utilize electricity for therapeutic purposes.