If I told you, you could accelerate the pace at which you learn new things using science would you do it? What if that included electric shocks to your brain? Well, that’s exactly what scientists were looking to find out in a recent study and it turns out it actually works.
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00:00 If I told you you could accelerate the pace at which you learn new things using science,
00:07 would you do it?
00:08 What if that included electric shocks to your brain?
00:11 Well that's exactly what scientists were looking to find out in a recent study and
00:15 it turns out it actually works.
00:17 They taught doctors how to use a new type of robotic surgery tools in virtual reality,
00:21 with one group doing so with only one electrical wave, essentially a placebo shock, while the
00:26 other received a targeted electrical current to their cerebellum throughout their learning
00:29 process.
00:30 What the researchers found was that not only did the group that received the continued
00:33 shock learn quicker, they learned how to control the robotic tool 50% quicker.
00:38 According to the researchers, quote, "The group that didn't receive stimulation struggled
00:42 a bit more to apply the skills they learned in virtual reality to the actual robot, especially
00:46 the most complex moves involving quick motions."
00:49 This new evidence corroborates previous studies, which showed a link between this type of brain
00:53 stimulation and motor learning in rehabilitation therapy.
00:57 And this could be a boon for learning in VR, as it has long been useful, but came with
01:00 limitations as real-world skills are hard to transfer without tactile feeling.
01:05 The researchers add this could be a boon to training real-world skills across myriad industries,
01:09 reducing the resources and time needed for building those skills.
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