A new kind of juice

In this paper, a brain-stimulation gadget for athletes was discussed. A new gadget called Halo Sport, a seemingly ordinary headphones that send a trickle of electric current into brain's motor cortex. That current will stimulate the neurons that send movement commands to muscles, making the brain better at transmitting those commands. In transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), anode and cathode electrodes press against certain spots on the scalp to channel a tiny current through a specific region of the brain-in the Halo's case, the motor cortex. This stimulation makes neurons in that region more likely to “fire,” sending natural electrical signals from one cell to the next. With the Halo, the motor cortex signal then travels down the peripheral nerves to the muscles. Repeatedly activating a neural pathway is akin to making a rut in a road, letting a signal more easily travel down it in the future. Pairing the stimulation with physical training can give an athlete the winning edge.