Source: New Scientist

Boosting brain waves can make people move in slow motion. The finding, one of the first to show that brain waves directly influence behaviour, could lead to new treatments for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.

Peter Brown at University College London used electrodes to generate a small electrical current in the brains of 14 healthy volunteers. The current increased the activity of normal beta waves, a kind of brain wave that is usually active during sustained muscle activities, such as holding a book. Beta activity usually drops before people begin a movement.

The participants then carried out a simple task: they moved a spot on a computer screen as quickly as possible using a joystick. With increased beta wave activity, their fastest times slowed by 10 per cent (Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.074).

The findings suggest a link between the slowing of movement and greater beta wave activity seen in people with Parkinson's. They have even greater relevance for conditions of uncontrolled movement such as dystonia and chorea, Brown said.