Neuroscientists from Boston University have found that age-related working memory impairments can be repaired. They found that this was possible by stimulating the brain by alternating- current stimulation.
The study involved 42 young people aged 20 to 29 and 42 elderly people aged 60 to 76. The researchers tested the performance of working memory activities in all subjects.
Researchers used the method of transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS) to input electrical charge into the brains of young and old groups. They found that the use of variable current stimuli assisted 42 elderly people to restore normal electrogram rhythm in the left prefrontal cortex and left temporal cortex (these brain regions and working memory-related) . Without brain stimulation, the memory of older people is slower than that of young people, and the correct rate is lower too. This is because the specific brainwave frequencies of young people are highly correlated.
When older people are stimulated by positive brains, they can increase their working memory test scores to the level of young people, and the effect lasts for at least 50 minutes. When the elderly received 25 minutes electrical stimulation to their brains, the elderly are similar to those in their 20s who remember whether the on-screen image is the same or slightly changed from the previous version.
This suggests that treatment of such frequencies in the elderly's brain may help the brain function. The findings will provide the basis for more research and are expected to develop non-invasive tool to treat brain-complementing diseases such as schizophrenia, autism and Alzheimer's disease.