Friday, April 02, 2021
Rediscovering as usual
This bit of research is part of the "rediscovery" of electrotherapeutics. Researchers found that:
In compulsive “addicted” rats, low (30 Hz) but not high (130 Hz), deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the STN efficiently reduces pathological cocaine seeking.
I was curious to see if this correlation was known by the original electrotherapists. I couldn't find a direct connection to cocaine because cocaine and opium were just ordinary medications at that time, not forbidden fruits. In the 1880s no substance was considered to be witchy.
I did find one use of frequencies in the same range to get rid of a persistent muscle spasm, which is on the same end of the spectrum as cocaine.
From Journal of Electrotherapeutics:
Aroloring and Chantre have made some interesting studies into the contractions of the sphincter ani. The form and duration of the muscular shock are modified, and the muscle shows a greater aptitude to become tetanized in comparison to other muscles . The contraction is slower in starting and disappearing and in graphic tracings the summit is less acute and the duration of the contractions longer than in an ordinary muscle. Fewer excitations are necessary to tetanize it. Under the influence of excitations induced at the rate of 3 per second , the contractors of the sphincter become confused and cease to be visible when the excitations are increased to 22 or 24 per second. The primary effect of an excitation is to produce a brief diminution of the tonicity of the muscle.In other words, 24 cps 'confuses' the contracting muscle and breaks up its spasm.
Labels: 1901
¶ 1:11 AM
