Scientists have long dabbled with the idea that'moral enhancement technologies,' such as drugs or even surgical techniques, could be used to improve human behaviour. But, experts now warn that such methods are not only infeasible, but are generally a'really bad idea.' While certain types of pharmaceutical or neurostimulation intervention may produce some positive effects, a new study has found that they are just'blunt instruments' with inconsistent results – and historically, such practices have proven unwise. Scientists have long dabbled with the idea that'moral enhancement technologies,' such as drugs or even surgical techniques, could be used to improve human behaviour. The researchers looked at the use of oxytocin (also known as the'moral molecule) – a neuropeptide that plays a critical role in social cognition and bonding.

For the first time, scientists have found that stimulating the brain could accelerate learning. Matthew Phillips and his team from Malibu, Calif.-based HRL Information and System Sciences Laboratory used a brain-computer interface called transcranial direct current stimulation to transmit the recorded brainwave patterns from six commercial and military pilots to novices learning to fly. The novices received the brainwaves from a rubber cap embedded with electrodes. These non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) caps are commonly used in brainwave research and are able to detect and transmit brainwave activity through the skull. Phillips and his team recruited thirty-two right-handed people for the study.

Dan Chao is an avid cyclist who likes to train on a stationary bike. Lately while training he's been sporting a pair of trendy-looking headphones that also stimulate his brain. And he says the device has helped him improve his performance on his real bike. Chao is a cofounder and the CEO of a startup called Halo Neuroscience, which released the neurostimulating headphones, called Halo Sport, last month. The arch of the headphones contains two electrodes that deliver a very small amount of electric current to the wearer's head, aimed at the neurons in the motor cortex, a brain region that coördinates movement. The mild stimulation, called transcranial direct current stimulation, essentially makes it "slightly easier for the neurons to fire," says Chao.