tDCS: better cognition through electricity?

For the past month or so I've been doing regular tDCS sessions. What's tDCS? The FLA stands for transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Basically you run an electric current through your brain for a while and it makes you better.What?!!!Well, that's what the research says it does. It's a mild current, and a relatively short time, but everything I've read says it's unlikely to be harmful, and likely to be good. My subjective view is that it makes me better. That may be for reasons that are less related to the science of neurostimulation and more related to the science of the placebo effect. And from the sense of empowerment I get from saying "Fuck you!!" to the cognitive decline part of the aging process.If any blogologists have noted how much better written this and the the last few paragraphs are compared to my usual drivel, you now have the answer. I'm doing a tDCS session as I write this. But seriously, I am really doing this. I don't have objective information that shows that it's helping, and won't have any owing the the difficulty of doing double-blind sham-tDCS-controlled tests on myself, but here's my experience. I do the tDCS while I'm doing something else: sometimes it's something that I like, such as writing, and sometimes it's something I'm neutral-to-negative about, like organizing some crap in my office, and sometimes it's something that's kind of annoying, like reconciling our credit card account. And very often, not always, at some point I think: "Wow! I feel unusually good." And I realize I'm doing a tDCS session. And I check the timer on my device, and I'm usually 7-10 minutes into the current (NPI) session. Which proves exactly nothing, but I don't care.I'm still working the bugs out of the system, so I still experience one of the common, negative side effects: a kind of itching burning sensation under the electrode pads. It's enough to annoy me, and even to discourage me at times, but not enough to stop me. I think it has something to do with getting the concentration of the conductive solution right. Or maybe I've got Sensitive Skin and I'll have to Suck It Up And Live With It. Eventually I'll figure it out. Or not.And what makes it easier to push on through is that I've now got a tDCS buddy to help me over my distraction and push past the minor skin irritation. Who is it? Astoundingly, it's my generally techno-skeptic semi-luddite beloved life partner, Bobbi. She calls it "electrocuting her brain" but she's doing it along with me, at least one session per day. I try to do three. Shows the power of true love. Or desperation.I had been researching tDCS intermittently (or inconsistently, if you want to get judgmental) for about five years. Everything that I've read (links to some of my sources are at the bottom) has said pretty much the same thing: most people experienced no undesirable side effects, mainly minor skin irritation (like me); a few have experienced headaches, which are also a common side-effect with placebos; many experienced positive effects.The research often compares three configurations: Anodal tDCS, in which the stimulating electrode, the one stimulating the brain is the anode and the cathode, often called the reference electrode, is on forehead, check, neck, or arm. Cathodal tDCS in which the electrodes are reversed. And sham in which there's nothing going on. Maybe some cayenne powder on the electrode for the sting.It's always possible that there are long-term negative effects, but I'm not too worried about that. The whole idea of long-term negative effects is irrelevant to amusing to someone over 70 like me. And in the presence of ample evidence of short-term positive effects, I say it's worth the risk.The device I'm using comes from [Trans-cranial Technologies](http://www.trans-cranial.com/) "When only the best in tDCS therapy will do." Which may be true. Or the best may be from [Fisher Wallace](http://fisherwallace.com) "The Proven Device for Depression, Insomnia, Anxiety & Pain; Featured in The Wall Street Journal." FW costs about twice as much, and it is FDA cleared, so maybe it is better, but I'm not about to do any double-blind sham-controlled studies to check it out. I'll just keep electrocuting my brain with my TCT device.The first tDCS device to get me excited was called [GoFlow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSXQsafB2ig) The link is to a Kickstarter-style video explaining the concept: a complete, $100-ish open-source consumer-style unit. Stick it on your head and turn it on. No wires, pads built in and positioned. I signed up to be notified when they had something to sell. They tried going on their own; then tried Kickstarter (rejected!!!) then finally, after repeated delays, they quit. [Their site](http://flowstateengaged.com/) is now a forum.In the meantime I'd investigated other devices and found the landscape looked like this:* Fisher Wallace at $800 or so at the time, plus possibly another $100 to get their shill-doctor to prescribe it* DIY from schematics at a couple of bucks for parts, and take your chances* Wait for something betterOne thing I learned, and you may as well: if you Google for tDCS and especially if you land at FW's website, then for weeks your Google ads will promote FW, and your YouTube video ads will all have FW content. I think I'm due for more FW ads now.My next serious run at getting a device came after I joined the [Maine Hackers Club](http:\\www.hackmaine.com). One of the regulars there, Michal, is a brillant hardware hacker. I found the [Open Stim Project](http://openbrainstim.sourceforge.net/) which provides both a hardware reference and control software. For the price of the parts Michal built me a board and populated it. But I needed pads.That sent me to [tdcs-kit](http://www.tdcs-kit.com/), for a $40.00 device, including pads. Now I was set up, but still not happy. I believed that both this device and Michal's were safe, but still. If I'm going to run a current through my brain, did it make sense to use the cheapest thing that I could?My brain deserved better.So I convinced myself that it was worth the $379 that they wanted and placed the order. Only to find that the shipping cost from Hong Kong was another $100. But in for $379, in for a $479, so I placed the order. No regrets.If you're interested in finding out more, [diytdcs](http://www.diytdcs.com/) a good starting point. They'll point to you a number of other resources, including the [tDCS subreddit](http://www.reddit.com/r/tDCS/)For tdcs montages try [this](http://tdcsplacements.com/)