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Alberto Vina
On March 26 and 27, the Alcorcón campus will receive the Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Conference, focused on its applications and current trends in research. The talks will be given by researchers from various fields, such as psychology, physiotherapy or physical activity sciences.
The reason for holding these conferences is the constitution of the Spanish Network for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (REtDCS), which is led by the Rey Juan Carlos University and financed by its own Plan. The organization of the event is the responsibility of the Center for Sports Studies of the URJC.
Miguel Ángel Fernández del Olmo, professor and professor of the Sports Science and Physical Education degree at the URJC, explains the origin of REtDCS: “after some twenty years of research and multiple collaborations with other researchers, we decided to establish the Network, which the URJC has wanted to finance to help generate knowledge based on scientific evidence”.
Regarding the objectives of the conference, Fernández del Olmo indicates that it is intended to carry out a "rigorous and interdisciplinary approach to the use of tDCS in its different fields of application". On the other hand, the professor states that he hopes that the attendees "receive a global vision of the potentialities and limitations of tCDS". In addition, parallel to the conference, the members of REtDCS will discuss the "future lines of action to consolidate the Network as a national and international benchmark".
A recently developed technique
Transcranial direct current stimulation is a non-invasive and painless brain stimulation technique that does not require prior preparation by the patient, who can be an adult or a child.
The procedure varies for each person and pathology, but in general it consists of applying a small electrical current of very low amplitude for about twenty or thirty minutes through specific regions of the brain.
Some recent experiments have shown that tDCS improves language skills, attention, memory or coordination, and that it can also be practiced in people without brain damage in order to increase their intellectual abilities.