Thync, a Brain-Altering Wearable

To be honest, I find this product a bit scary, but the technology is interesting. For those with tinnitus who are currently, or who have suffered from severe anxiety and depression and fear drug side effects - this could be a huge gift if used wisely.

The article below states this kind of tech would have been unthinkable three years ago. I'm not deeply enough entrenched in the neuro tech world to say if that is so or not, but things are moving quickly. Even if the tech isn't designed for tinnitus, that doesn't mean these advances can't help us.

The article is good, the website has more on the science etc. Enjoy and discuss! : )


http://qz.com/325070/this-brain-altering-wearable-could-end-our-dependence-on-drugs/

www.thync.com

 

Hi everyone. I was on this company's mailing list and this product is now available to the public (limited release for June 2015) for $299.

It's been released as a "lifestyle" product, so it did not need to go through the FDA, which I found rather interesting, but if anyone tries it who has also tried any "calming" drugs, I would be so interested in hear a comparison.

Here's a page on the science behind the device: http://www.thync.com/science-and-technology

 

Wow, you can have your very own Penfield Mood Organ!

Not sure what to make of this, or whether it's peer-reviewed in any capacity, but here's their research paper - http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/453177/...ific_Publications/Stress_reduction_by_TEN.pdf

Any science geeks care to opine on this new TENS unit?

 

@Ferret Doesn't look like it's been peer-reviewed.

 

This is very interesting. tDCS has been shown to suppress tinnitus with some patients.

Techcrunch hands on:
http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/02/hands-on-with-thyncs-mood-altering-headset/?ncid=rss#.ogrnmo:kPmZ

 

It doesn't look like that one is. Their website does have peer-reviewed articles/studies on the technology their unit uses (which it not new, I believe), but since it's a "lifestyle" product, I imagine they didn't have to do as much in that arena prior to launching.

I have no idea (but rather doubt) it would have much effect on anyone's T - and you have to keep in mind that it's not meant to be used in any medical sense - but I did write a doctor friend who said (edited for brevity/privacy):

"I had a quick look at the data and some of it looks like there maybe some benefit*...up at the medical center, they've been studying TMS - transcranial magnetic stimulation for years...which induces an electrical signal in the brain and has some efficacy with depression, migraine, and other conditions.
So, who knows... : )"

*I do not think he meant "some benefit" in terms of T - just in terms of what the item is claiming to do

 

The device sounds intriguing. My main concern is our brains--i.e., brains with tinnitus. Specifically, will the device work the same on our brains--with increased activity, e.g., more gamma, less alpha waves in the auditory cortex and elsewhere--as someone with a normal brain?

I ask this because I did buy Muse, the meditation headband. So far, it's been a disappointment. Although I am able to calm my brain while wearing it, it irritates my tinnitus and makes it louder for a day. It "feels" like the device overstimulates my auditory cortex, which is quite possible as some of their sensors are at/near the area.

Tinnitus research on neuromodulation--e.g., rTMS, tDCS, neurofeedback--utilizes a specific protocol designed to address the abnormalities created by the tinnitus precept. So it's not just a matter of calming the brain, but calming the specific areas that are hyperactive. It would be excellent if any of these companies collaborated with researchers to treat specific medical conditions. Muse, for example, has researchers looking at utilizing the technology for ADHD. (But not tinnitus! )

Anyway, it would be worth a try! And, of course, I'm still intrigued by this and other wearables that could help us tinnitus sufferers. The future does look bright!

 

Good points @jazz.

I also got an idea - when we buy and try various devices, which we don't end up using, why don't we sell / loan them to others in this community? For example I would like to try Muse.

 

You can contact thync and ask them questions. I asked about T. We shall see.
Just relieve is all Ive ever wanted without the associated side effects.
Another question would be how often can you use this application.

 

www.choosemuse.com

seems like the same thing (I am wrong, muse is "only" EEG reading, thync seems like some kind of stimulator).

 

haha, yeah, hey @jazz if you want to try an alpha-stim for a while, I'll trade you mine for your Muse for a couple weeks -- I'm interested in trying Muse, but based on what you just said about it I'm not hot to buy one.

 

I'll wait until other people try it.

 

@ruben ruiz ... it`s 299 dollar for the system and then around 20 dollar per pack of 5 patches which you can use once or up to three times (depending on skin oils and make up and such) ... so it`s average of 2 dollars a hit ...

sounds very cool though ... love to try it ... if it wasn`t with these disposable patches i would buy it asap.

 

There's always a catch...A money making catch.

 

still less than half the price of crack or meth!

 

I have been following this product for about six months and it looked interesting enough to order one. Not sure if it will do a thing for T but I will report back with my findings. I have had T for 45 years which unfortunately must make me some sort of expert.

 

It's like we're fighting more than the T. We are fighting anxiety, depression and insomnia.
Anything that helps would be truly awesome. At this point we're still waiting. Will find out soon enough.

 

The root cause of that is tinnitus, get rid of tinnitus all that goes...I should know, I have like 1 out of 10 tinnitus now.

 

Can this device turn off attention from tinnitus, permanently and completely? You can't hear your tinnitus even if you look for it?

 

No one knows a thing about how this device will affect T, if at all. Let's try it and see.

 

Hopefully, someone will find safe, effective treatment for tinnitus that turns the volume off for everyone who has it.

However, saying that doing so would be the only way to shut down the depression, anxiety, and insomnia associated with tinnitus is clearly incorrect, because of the large, large number of people who have very loud, intrusive tinnitus which cannot be masked, and yet have found a way to live without depression, anxiety or insomnia.

 

Hm, well to be frank, we don't know how loud is loud to these people. Tinnitus is so, difficult to measure. I knew that mine was super loud, as I was banging my head on everything to go into a coma or die last year.

 

Sure, but we can figure out a lot based on subjective maskability / comparison to ambient sounds. When someone can hear their T over a jet engine, it's clearly pretty loud.

Conversely, trying to measure 'loudness' based on degree of reaction -- stoic acceptance vs head banging rage -- is equally problematic, because some people are driven to head-banging by relatively "soft" sounds, and others are stoic in the face of screaming jet-engine obliterating cacophonies. The reasons for this are, to some extent, understood at this point: tinnitus volume and tinnitus distress have their roots in different (but highly connected) parts of the brain.

 

I found this interesting bit on techcrunch about a hands on of thync:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/02/hands-on-with-thyncs-mood-altering-headset/?ncid=rss#.4cawsk:Xwgb

this statement caught my eye:
"During the demo, Thync co-founder and CEO Isy Goldwasser explained that the module wasn’t directly stimulating neurons in my brain (that would be too damn weird for me to try, to be honest). Instead, it uses tiny pulses of electricity to stimulate the skin at your temple, which then activates the instinctual fight-or-flight response in your brain to indirectly affect emotional response."

From what I understand tinnitus suffering is due to the fight or flight response of our brain.
Would a device that actually activate that be beneficial for us. ?
Though I must say I am intrigued to try if it were a bit more affordable.

The calm effect seems the way to go I suppose.

 

my motorcycle activates the hell out of my fight or flight response, and riding it has been more useful to dealing with my overall anxiety than I ever would have guessed before I got it. So... maybe?

 

I just ordered Thync. Plan to combine it with listening to Mozart through bone conducting headphones (vibration) in an effort to mimic the Tomatis Method. I am in fact trying to reproduce VNS (microtransponder) while listening to sounds in order to retrain the brain.
I will report back on the results of my experiment.

 

Greenmachine, Inge, or anyone else w/info,
Have you used the Thync device? If so, what are your results?
Please allow me to apologize in advance if this specific information is somewhere on this site. I joined TinnitusTalk a short while ago & have searched as best as I know how.
Thanks to anyone who can share their experience with Thync's device. Mine should arrive on Tuesday.

 

Have you started using the Thync device yet? How is your experience with it?

 

I'm super curious about this but god damn it seems expensive. $299 for the unit and 4 strips. After that, strips comes as 5-packs for $19.99 or you can enter a subscription service to get packs at a discount. Can any users please weigh in with their experiences? Because outside of any effect this may or may not have on T it just seems like a really cool thing. I recall the Radiolab episode about this and I've been curious ever since.

 

I have been using it for a few months in the "calm" mode. It helps me to fall asleep faster. it does nothing about the T.