Ever since the physician Scribonius Largus slapped an electric torpedo fish on the forehead of a headache sufferer in the early days of the Roman empire, electricity has been pursued as a cure for a seemingly endless variety of ailments–by serious scientists and profiteering quacks alike. The latest chapter in this long and colorful history (see sidebar below) involves something called transcranial direct current stimulation, in which a small electric current is delivered to the brain through electrodes placed on the head.

In the last few years this method of electrical brain stimulation has caught the attention of scientists at some of the world’s leading universities. They think it has potential for treating disorders like depression and chronic pain, helping people recover faster from strokes, and even enhancing learning, memory, and creativity in healthy people. And, as I write in this month’s print issue of WIRED, this research–and the largely enthusiastic media coverage it’s inspired–has convinced a small, but growing community of ordinary people to try zapping their own brains in hopes of boosting their brainpower and enhancing their psychological wellbeing.

Many researchers trace the current wave of interest in brain stimulation to a study published in 2000 by two German scientists, Michael Nitsche and Walter Paulus. At the time, Nitsche says, they were looking for ways to regulate the excitability of neurons in specific brain regions to help people with epilepsy and other disorders. During their search, Nitsche came across some older studies on direct current stimulation, and they decided to give it a try.

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