Send electrical charges from your phone to your brain to change your mood

MIT Technology Review : Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) uses electrodes on your head to send electrical pulses to the brain. A device developed by Jamie Tyler of Arizona State University and his colleagues and now marketed by the startup Thync instead sends those pulses to the nerves and muscles and the scalp. The company has found that depending on the location of the stimulation, TDCS can produce a short-lived energizing effect similar to drinking a caffeinated beverage, or it can produce a calming effect. The duration and strength of the effect also vary depending on the person. Thync recently announced that it had received $13 million in funding and hopes to have a commercially available version of its device in early 2015. Researchers at the company are also examining an alternative that uses ultrasound as a potential treatment for psychiatric and other brain disorders.