First of all, it's hard to believe they even did this experiment. "I know, let's shock kids' brains to see if it makes them smarter." Where was the ethics committee?
"If future studies prove that it works – and is safe – the cheap and non-invasive procedure might be used routinely to boost the cognitive power of those who fall behind in maths, the scientists said." Oh yes, let's electroshock people who aren't as smart as us. The nerds ultimate revenge.
"In tests afterwards, the students who had their brains stimulated solved maths puzzles 27% faster than the control group." They also started asking for their Mommy, but let's not attend to that. What kind of world is it when we even consider interventions such as this? Are we that competitive? Whatever happened to getting enough sleep, exercising regularly and eating right?
The obvious parallel is athletes and drugs. Or even students and drugs. Maybe instead of taking amphetamines to get you through that late night study session you should try hooking up your brain to the toaster. The expression "fry your brain" takes on a whole new meaning.
I'm not usually dismissive of new research, but this is really out there. "Our aim is to help those with poor numeracy, which is approximately 20% of the population," (lead researcher) Cohen Kadosh told the Guardian." More like 80%, but why quibble. Let's all line up for our shots, then all have pi for dessert. After all, it couldn't hurt... or could it?