Recurrent themes in the history of the home use of electrical stimulation: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and the medical battery (1870-1920)

Background: In recent years, neuroscientists and ethicists have warned of the dangers of the unsupervised home use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in which individuals stimulate their own brains with low levels of electricity for self-improvement purposes. Although the home use of tDCS is often referred to as a novel phenomenon, in reality the late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a proliferation of electrical stimulation devices for home use. In particular, the use of an object known as the medical battery bears a number of striking similarities to the modern-day use of tDCS.

Objective: This article reviews a number of features thought to be unique to the present day home use of brain stimulation, with a particular focus on analogies between tDCS and the medical battery.

Methods: Archival research was conducted at the Bakken Museum and at the American Medical Association's Historical Health Fraud Archives.

Results: Many of the features characterizing the contemporary home use tDCS-a do-it-yourself (DIY) movement, anti-medical establishment themes, conflicts between lay and professional usage-are a repetition of themes that occurred a century ago with regard to the medical battery. A number of features, however, seem to be unique to the present, such as the dominant discourse about risk and safety, the division between cranial and non-cranial stimulation, and utilization for cognitive enhancement purposes.

Conclusion(s): Viewed in the long durée, the contemporary use of electrical stimulation at home is not a novel phenomenon, but rather the latest wave in a series of ongoing attempts by lay individuals to utilize electricity for therapeutic purposes.