Need a Jolt To Fire You Up or Calm You Down?

My afternoon pick-me-up packs more of a jolt than your average cup of joe.

I’ve been sticking a new $300 device called Thync to my temple when I need an energy boost or help unwinding for the past week and a half. In sessions lasting five to 20 minutes, the gadget zaps a low-voltage electrical current through nerves in my forehead.

The sensation is like drinking an espresso, accompanied by a tingle of prickly heat behind the ear. That’s the feeling of an Energy “vibe.” A vibe is Thync’s term for patterns of electrical pulses that elicit different responses in your nervous system. There are also Calm vibes, which for about an hour produce a wave of tranquility akin to a glass of wine.

The Thync communicates with your phone via 
Bluetooth. Photo: Jason Henry for The WSJ

If altering your state with the buzz of a smartphone-connected gadget sounds like snake oil, I hear you. The science behind Thync, called transdermal electrical neuromodulation, isn’t new, but research into its effects is in early stages. The first time I dialed up a vibe, I wondered: Even if I feel different after a Thync session (which I usually do) how do I know it isn’t just the power of suggestion? And since when is it a good idea to run electric current through my head?

The mind and nervous system still contain many mysteries. Yet Thync—backed by $20 million from big Silicon Valley names like Khosla Ventures—is just one of a cadre of products and government agencies that see them as the next frontier for wearable tech. The promising idea is to advance beyond Fitbits and Apple Watches that measure bodies into devices that activate or heal them. Thync says it shifts your mental state with the press of a button—how sci-fi is that?

The Thync’s disposable strips are sold in packs of 
five for $20. Photo: Jason Henry for The WSJ

Thync is exempt from medical-device regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. An FDA spokeswoman declined to comment on the product. But I reviewed a letter it sent Thync saying it would consider it a nonmedical “recreational” device as long as it doesn’t change the amount of electrical current it applies, among other factors.

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No question, it’s for the intrepid. When I used it wrong at first, it felt a bit like the brain freeze you get from inhaling a Slurpee. Thync says it’s effective on 80% of people—for some, it just doesn’t work. A colleague who tried Thync three times said it felt like tiny ants biting him, and I’d have to pay him to use it regularly.

After more than a dozen Thync sessions, I’d consider keeping one around to use when I need a chill pill or some encouragement to go to the gym. It’s not a perfect replacement for coffee or wine—more delicious, not to mention social, ways to shift my state of mind. But Thync is a drug-free alternative. It’s just less well understood.

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