I have just found a very interesting news: “Magnets may be useful in treating neurological and psychiatric diseases”.
The magnetic fields produced by magnets, when they are strong enough, can alter the electrical activity of the motor and visual cortex, but not alone. Now Spanish scientists have found that they can also influence on human cognitive functions.
The researchers demonstrated, in an experiment with 76 healthy adults, the magnets impede the execution of some tasks.
Specifically, according to this experiment, an exercise, in which the volunteers had to find hidden objects on a screen, those with static magnetic fields, in the head, did worse, detailed Antonio Oliviero, from the National Hospital for Paraplegics (Toledo) and director of this research.
"The breakthrough presented by this article, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, whose first author is Javier Gonzalez Rosa, from the Biomedical Technology Centre, is that, in addition to effects on harsh physiology of the visual cortex, it is given an effect on the behavior, on visual function".
This is, in his view, a "very important result", because it opens the door to the use of powerful magnets, to "fairly significantreat some neurological and psychiatric diseases", according to Oliviero.
In many diseases, it is given an excess or deficit of cerebral excitability and it could be applied this magnetic fields to correct it (for example in epilepsy neurons are "shoot up").
"Having tools like these --the imams-- it would be reduced the discharge of neurons, which would be potentially beneficial in many diseases, such as epilepsy", noted the scientist.
The brain works with many interconnected areas that are rebalanced each other and, according to this article, these magnetic fields could be used to inhibit some and making others work better.
The study was done in three phases, with 76 healthy people, who were placed on the head some magnets; to a group, magnetics magnet and, to another group, steel cylinders without magnetic effect, as a placebo.
They were asked to perform the task of looking for hidden objects, on a screen, and they measured brain electrical activity, by an electroencephalograph. Successes and failures, the time and the characteristics of brain electrical activity were measured.
The magnets used were 40 times stronger than a typical refrigerator magnet, detailed to Efe Bryan Strange from the Centre for Biomedical Technology (Polytechnic University of Madrid) and another of the authors of the work.
"The magnets were placed in the back of the head and this study is the first demonstration that they can influence both brain activity and human behavior".
Oliviero matched Strange that this opens a door to the use of static magnetic fields, as a "promising" tool, to interfere or modulate the brain activity.
They have also involved scientists, from the University Hospital Puerta del Sur HM and the Alzheimers Centre Queen Sofia. Both in Madrid.
The researchers are making new experiments, with Parkinson's patients and expect to start soon in migraine and other neurological diseases.
Well, I hope that you have liked this news.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
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