Put on Your Thinking Cap - Headgear That Could Unlock the Hidden Genius in You

Scientists have developed new stimulating headgear that could unlock the hidden genius in you...

They say the spark of genius lurks within all of us. Now, a group of researchers is developing a “thinking cap” that can make the notion a reality and unlock the potential of the brain. The revolutionary device works by switching on and off certain sections of the brain, thereby unlocking its hidden potential.

Wearing the hairnet-like cap for a few minutes improved artistic ability and proofreading skills, trials found.

Once perfected, the device could be marketed as a cap slipped on to boost creativity and intellectual capacity. The technique is based on research into savants – people like the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rainman, who have extraordinary abilities as well as severe mental disability.

The cap can reproduce the same affect by careful targeting of the magnetic pulses allows over or under-active parts of the brain to be calmed down or jump-started.

Professor Allan Snyder at Sydney University believes the experiments show that we all have hidden talents, but we just have trouble tapping into them.

“I believe that each of us has, within us, non-conscious machinery which can do extraordinary art, extraordinary memory and extraordinary mathematical calculations,” he said.

“We don’t normally access these skills because they are the machinery behind our daily lives and everything we do. “My theory is that there is a lot happening and maybe you could see it by shutting off that conscious part of the brain,” he added.

The researchers used a cap equipped with magnetic coil to zap the left side of the brain. This side generally sees the “bigger picture” and suppresses the detail-hoarding right side. In one experiment, volunteers were asked to draw a dog, horse or face from memory before and after being zapped for ten to 15 minutes. Four of the 11 volunteers produced more natural pictures after wearing the cap. And two also spotted more written mistakes in pieces of text that they’d overlooked earlier, the researchers said.

HOW IT WORKS
A cap containing a magnet that’s is connected to an electric current is placed on the head. The magnet – in the shape of an eight – is made up of a bundle of intertwined wires, and is located near the left ear.

The headgear generates tiny magnetic pulses that disturb the electric circuits on the left side of the brain, which is known to see the bigger picture. The stronger left side usually suppresses the detail-hoarding right side.

Since the right side remains undisturbed, details filed there come to the fore to create a burst of creative, mathematical, or other talent