Change my brain: could these stimulation techniques treat depression and make us smarter?

By Amy Corderoy
Updated June 11 2015 - 10:28am, first published May 30 2015 - 12:00am
Researcher Stevan Nikolin watches Amy Corderoy do a complex test of her working memory while receiving  tDCS of her brain. Photo: Steven Siewert
Researcher Stevan Nikolin watches Amy Corderoy do a complex test of her working memory while receiving tDCS of her brain. Photo: Steven Siewert

Stevan Nikolin once participated in a scientific experiment that involved him spending eight hours with needles in the base of his tongue. Another time, he spent weeks with a completely numb leg after keeping an ice-pack on his groin for so long he suspects it may have temporarily impaired his nerve.