Page 75 - INC Magazine-November 2018

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SURfacInG
electrify your Brain

Coffee breaks have a robust basis in neuroscience: Human brains can’t maintain focus on a boring task too long,
says researcher Andy McKinley. “Usually, after 20 minutes or so, performance has gone down quite a bit,” he says.
Caffeine extends that window, but nowhere near as much as zapping the brain with electrical currents, as McKinley
knows. He focuses on transcranial direct­current stimulation—tDCS—at the U.S. Air Force’s applied neuroscience
branch’s cognitive performance optimization section. In trials involving repetitive work, electrically stimulating the
left frontal cortex let subjects maintain concentration for up to six hours—without a performance drop. In other
tests, tDCS accelerated the rate of learning by 25 percent. Maybe brain­zapping headsets—already a thing with
Silicon Valley biohackers—will one day be as common as espresso machines. —J.b.

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Mental
p health
Why a
tage.” Men seem more willing to
alISon daRcy, a clInIcal PSycholoGISt, set out to slay psychiatry’s vISIt to interaction—can be “a huge advan­
sacred cow: that two people in a room talking to each other is the the ShRInk open up without another human
only way to get someone help. Few have the money or desire to do present: Roughly half of Woebot’s
full­on therapy. Most don’t need it. What they need is in­the­moment coUld users are male, to Darcy’s surprise.
Woebot, which is free, has oebot, which is free, has
guidance when they’re stressed or depressed. Not a couch. A coach. BecoMe W
Enter Darcy’s Woebot, an A.I.­driven chatbot that delivers cognitive raised $8.1 million; eventually,
behavioral therapy over mobile devices. CBT focuses on thoughts, a RelIc users will pay for some services.
teaching people to examine and reframe theirs. Her company launched Darcy won’t reveal user numbers,
b
in 2017, the year the World Health Organization said the world’s leading but says Woebot receives between ut says Woebot receives between
cause of disability is depression. “There never have been enough clini­ one million and two million mes­
cians,” she says, adding, “About 38 percent of people with a diagnosis of sages a week. (Each session comprises multiple messages.)
depression will achieve sustained recovery from a lighter touch with CBT.” “ “In an ideal world, you exercise every day,” says Darcy. “Mental health In an ideal world, you exercise every day,” says Darcy. “Mental health
Prior to starting the company, while working with people with eating is the new exercise. I would love to see Woebot be the thing that popu­
disorders, Darcy realized that “removal of the body”—through digital larizes that.” —LEIGH BuCHANAN
9 0 ● I n c . ● n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 8 ● ● ● I L L u s t r at I o n b y g r a h a m r o u m I e u