I wonder if it helps their depression?

Apparently crocodiles can find their way back to their territories even if they've been moved miles away using the Earth's magnetic field. So, to keep them from returning to their former, human-inhabited territories, Florida officials take them deep into the swamp and attach magnets to their heads, making them lose their sense of direction. Cool, maybe next time I go to Florida, I'll bring a TMS machine with me (or at least a magnetic therapy bracelet).

New meaning to brain waves

This was recently posted on Brain Stimulant blog (good to know that my young field has reached into the blog world). Researchers at the Arizona State are investigating the use of ultrasound to stimulate the brain. They've done some in vitro studies and found some pretty cool effects (it can cause cells to fire and release neurotransmitters). It has some potential benefits that TMS doesn't such as the possibility to target deeper and smaller structures. Of course, since ultrasound has been used to kill tumors, safety may be a factor (though for brain stimulation a much lower intensity is used).

Arizona State has a press release about it also. One thing that struck me is that they're already talking about using it to treat diseases and create artificial memories like in Total Recall. I understand that to get it out into the media (and to get it funding) you need to make it sound sexy, but that's a bit far fetched (and misleading).

Ultrasound of brain (for imaging purposes, not stimulation)