Safety Considerations
According to Dr. Nord, the level of brain stimulation used in commercial devices is generally safe:
- Very low levels of electrical brain stimulation
- Unlikely to cause safety concerns when used for short periods
- Long-term effects of prolonged use are less clear
Placebo Effect
The potential role of the placebo effect in neurotech treatments is acknowledged:
- Users may experience benefits due to their expectations
- Clinical trials need to control for placebo effects
- For individual users, it's difficult to determine if the effect is due to the stimulation or placebo