There are many ways to live a healthier life. Daily walks, a better diet, and even something as simple as a daily sudoku puzzle to keep your brain active. But for something a bit different, what about sending electrical shocks to your brain?
Neuromodulation is the somewhat strange practice of placing stimulators on your head and sending electrical shocks straight to your nervous system. Surprisingly non-invasive and filled with a host of supposed health benefits, it could be the latest tech trend to effortlessly upgrade your life.
Although the idea of neuromodulation has been around for years, it has seen renewed interest recently, with a few companies Parasym or GammaCore taking up the cause. Founded back in 2017, Parasym has been making a lot of big claims, stating its devices can significantly improve your mental powers without even leaving your home (or sofa).
Doubtlessly, it sounds too good to be true. But the tech is now backed by research from universities such as UCL, Harvard and University College London, and it is even used by everyone’s favourite 40-something-year-old billionaire trying to be 17 again, Bryan Johnson.
But how does it work? Is it safe and can anybody use it?
What is neuromodulation and how does it work?
Put simply, neuromodulation is a type of technology that alters nerve activity by delivering electrical signals to a target area. Think of it like a dimmer switch, increasing or decreasing the activity of specific nerves or brain regions.
This could be used to excite nerves (increasing their activity) or inhibit nerves to, for instance, decrease pain signals. Equally, neuromodulation can alter neural patterns altogether, disrupting abnormal nerve signalling observed in various conditions such as epilepsy, chronic back pain or Parkinson’s disease.
There are many ways to achieve this ‘dimmer switch’, but for Parasym and similar companies, neuromodulation is achieved through 'auricular vagal neuromodulation therapy'. That’s a fancy way of saying electrical signals via the skin of your ear.
By sending these pulses through the ear, the technology targets your vagus nerve. It’s this nerve that carries signals between your brain, heart and digestive system.
“The device sits on the left ear. It has an electrode that directly targets the auricular branch [a small sensory nerve found behind the ear] of the vagus nerve. This directly projects onto the brainstem sending targeted signals,” Nathan Dundovic, co-founder of Parasym tells BBC Science Focus.
“The earpiece is connected to a handheld controller that controls the signal. The user sets the duration for the session. We recommend one or two sessions a day for an hour at a time.”
This is how many of these products work in some form. A handheld or wearable device delivering targeted shocks to the body. While they can very occasionally be prescribed by the NHS in the UK, this is mostly an industry where you need to buy your own equipment with prices starting around a hefty £600.
How the technology can slow ageing
Ageing is a complicated thing to track, and it is even harder to slow it. However, ageing is mostly the interaction of different diseases, health problems and the slowing of healing processes.
And this is where neuromodulation comes in. Such nervous system stimulation has been linked to the slowing of chronic inflammation – a process that contributes directly to the ageing process.
Age-related cognitive decline disorders like Alzheimer’s are major concerns in ageing populations. This is one of the areas that looks promising with neuromodulation nerve therapy, although a lot more research needs to be done for a clear link.
Equally, research shows a connection between neuromodulation and improvement in cardiovascular function. This could help combat heart failure, hypertension and high blood pressure.
Outside of ageing, the technology has been linked to an improvement in heart rate variability, improved fatigue and reduction in brain fog and depression. Even lesser-known issues such as postural tachycardia syndrome (a rapidly increasing heart rate when standing up) have seen improvements.
Dundovic claims that, through clinical studies, they have proven Parasym can significantly improve three key biomarkers that play a role in ageing. While there are clear links, we’re still very much in the early days of this technology.
“We are in a world of subjective measurements here. We’re modulating the brain circuits, and those circuits can be modulated by other factors. It is challenging to prove something is causing the positives,” Dr Simon Thomson, the founder of the Neuromodulation Society of the UK and Ireland and a leading expert in the field, told BBC Science Focus.
“However, because they have a very low risk if they aren’t implanted, it is perfectly reasonable for patients to use their own money to buy these things. We can’t help everyone who walks into a hospital so it’s a great alternative if you can afford it”.
And that’s what it really comes down to. While neuromodulation in this form is safe, it is still experimental in its results. A Parasym device will cost you nearly £700, Gammacore prices can cost £625 for a couple of months of use. And while there are plenty of much cheaper competitors, they start falling into the wild west of unregulated health technology.
Is neuromodulation safe?
The first use of neuromodulation dates back to the 1960s, using implanted devices to send shocks to cure back pain. They were bulky and had long-term side effects. Unsurprisingly, we’ve come a long way since then and health risks have drastically decreased.
Neuromodulation can be used in two different forms. The first is the more effective option and the one that is used in more serious cases – implanted devices. By implanting the device, it is able to apply more effective shocks but it is also riskier.
These carry a higher risk and can be linked to side effects. Some less serious side effects like discomfort or skin irritation and occasional headaches have been observed, but in more serious cases, patients have experienced infection at the implant site, seizures, bleeding and major fatigue.
So how can so many companies sell neuromodulation devices? Non-invasive neuromodulation (wearable devices) are a surprisingly safe option with reported side effects being limited to occasional reports of mild skin irritation.
Dundovick explained that in the case of the Parasym device, the reported risk is low. In their own clinical trials they had over 3 million treatment sessions, reporting no serious adverse events.
So why bother implanting the device? Just chuck a wearable on and skip all the problems… well, it’s not quite that simple. By sending signals through the skin, these devices are unlikely to work as well, not stimulating the vagus nerve as directly or consistently.
It also puts the work on the user. Unlike implanted devices, these methods require the patient to consistently and correctly apply the stimulation. It’s safer, and far less permanent, but a smaller output is important to factor in considering these technologies tend to start at around £600 but can easily exceed £1000 with additional fees. Now that's truly shocking.
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