Magnetic Brain Stimulation Speeds Up Motor Learning

I was always told that learning a skill like juggling or playing an instrument requires three things: practice, practice and practice. Now, researchers have found a way to shorten the path to new motor skills to practice, practice and magnetic brain stimulation. As detailed in a new study in the journal BMC Neuroscience, direct electromagnetic stimulation of the brain speeds up the fixation of simple motor skills. And while this system won't help a healthy person jump from chop sticks to Rachmaninoff in a weekend, it can speed up the rate at which stroke victims recover basic motor function. "If you practice a motor skill of any sort, you're exciting a set of neurons," said Lara Boyd, a professor at the University of British Columbia and the lead author of the paper. "We're warming the neurons up. We're preparing the brain to learn." And to...

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