this is "nightline." >> tonight, shocking results. can strapping electrodes to your head really make you happier, healthier, even smarter? this doctor says yes. and so do fans of the controversi controversial treatment. she's using it to quit smoking. will it work? plus, million dollar horses. if these beauties look expensive, that's because they are. and not just for the people betting on them. the race to the triple crown begins right here. but can olympic skiing superstar bode miller bring his expertise from the slopes to the track? and, friendship under fire. they've been to hell and back, together. and tonight, these two american heroes are putting our michael strahan to shame. what can this guy do that he can't? but first -- the "nightline"

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love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. good evening. tonight, how far would you go to gain a mental edge or lose an addiction? would you strap electrodes to your scalp it's the hottest new answer to what ails you, whether

your problem is poor concentration or chain smoking. how does it work and is it too good to be true? here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> it's 3:30, and this will be my third cigarette of the day. >> reporter: jesse is a smoker looking for a way out. >> this is my fourth cigarette of the day. >> reporter: how bad does she want to quit? you might be surprised. the 24-year-old is at the university of new mexico, where she is willingly going through a low grade form of shock therapy, a combination of meditation and what's called brain stimulation, powered by a simple nine volt battery. >> we'll jump right into the meditation if that's okay with you. >> sure. >> reporter: and in california, j.d. has given up his morning jolt of coffee for something a bit stronger. his morning boost almost sounds like he's jump starting a car. he takes an actual jolt of electricity straight to his brain. this simple device placed on

j.d.'s skull. could it be a real life thinking cap? >> i definitely think it's effective. i've stopped drinking coffee although. i used to drink two, three, four cups a day. just one short session in the morning is just to carry me throughout the entire day. >> reporter: it's called tdcs. its users believe it can help sharpen focus and improve memory, coordination and learning. even though this form of brain stimulation is totally unregulated, youtube is filled with people -- >> i feel very good, very calm. >> reporter: posting their own diy videos. >> there's definitely current going through my skull. >> reporter: claiming it's a miracle treatment that can make people smarter and more focused. reduce anxiety and ease pain. among them, video gamers. >> i do feel focused. >> reporter: who believe their skills have improved by hooking themselves up to tdcs kits.

j.d. first heard about tdcs in college and used it as a super charged learning aid. >> i went in to take the test, i thought i was going to fail. i got an a. i would remember looking at the questions on the test and remembering concepts down to the very paragraph they were in the book. rrl scientists in controlled studies around the world have been researching tdcs's impact on the human brain for years. the military wants in on it. funding some of the cutting edge research now being done at the university of new mexico's clinical neuroscience center, to figure out if brain stimulation can make soldiers sharper. >> we're going to do this for 30 minutes. running a weak current through two moistened electrodes. >> reporter: in this experiment, students run through a series of assessments on a computer monitor. similar to what soldiers train with. so see if they perform with their brains hooked up to nine-volt batteries. >> it feels like when your leg goes numb. not that bad at all, though.

oh. now i can feel it. now i can feel it. >> reporter: is it freaking you out? are you snok. >> i'm fine. it's interesting, though. just a little electrical stuff can make you feel that way. >> reporter: unlike traditional shock therapy in which a patient is put under general anesthesia and a seizure is intentionally triggered, tdcs is very low power and for many, hardly noticeable. are you feeling smarter? >> no, not so far. >> reporter: less marsmart? >> if anything, slightly uncomfortable. nothing major. >> reporter: dr. vincent clark is heading up the research in what's become ground zero for some of the most come prohencive studies into tdcs. >> we can double learning rate in people. >> reporter: hold it there. you really believe you are doubling learning rate? >> we have a number of studies we've replicated a number of times. each time, we're able to at least double learning rate in people.

>> reporter: it's so interesting. in describing this, you almost make it sound like a performance enhancing drug. >> it can be used to enhance performance. it influencing brain function in a way that might produce benefits. >> i came up with this design here. >> reporter: which brings us back to j.d. at 25, he founded the brain stimulator, a business he started in his mom's garage. >> i put the first device that i ever built up on ebay and it sold overnight and the next one i put up sold within an hour. i figured i might be onto something. >> reporter: today, he's expanded into a factory. >> this is where everything gets wired up and quality control tested. >> reporter: he claims he ships between 25 and 50 devices a day for $90 a pop. demand is so high, he needs help from his mom, uncle, even his grandmother. >> alaska, texas, new york, two in new york. brazil. >> reporter: that's despite the fact that his website comes complete with a warning, the brain stimulator is not a medical device.

and the results are from our finding and may be incomplete and/or completely wrong. do not view this data as absolute fact. he says he isn't worried about being called a modern day snake oil salesman and believes the market for brain stimulation is only growing. probably a good 20 orders here. it could turn into a wearables market. or it could stay at more of something that people like to do in their house or in private. >> reporter: but k0ucould he be playing with fire? >> these devices have been shown to be in safe when they are done in controlled trial, but no one's studied home devices to know, is it safe to let them use it at home? that's very different. >> reporter: we asked abc's dr. richard besser, can't all this home brain stimulation be dangerous? >> the studies that have looked at this haven't found any harm. it's a safe thing to do. what we don't really know is, short-term, long-term, does it

really work? >> reporter: following her session, jesse, so desperate to quit smoking, says she feels a bit better and craves cigarettes less. >> it's the day after my treatment and i have still yet to have a cigarette. >> reporter: but it is the brain stimulation? she thinks her results might just be from the meditation, not what came out of that battery. you're a skeptic. >> i am. i am definitely a skeptic. >> reporter: she's not alone. i have to be a skeptic and wonder, if it's so great, why isn't there more research being done? why is it just a lab in new mexico thats that had secret? >> i think part of it is, it's so new that nobody's heard of it yet. a lot of the big studies that need to be done, safety studies and large clinical trials haven't been done yet. >> reporter: dr. clark says buyingbuy ing a homemade skit might be risky because no one yet knows if there could be long-term effects. and while he is a believer when

it comes to easing pain and helping with learning, even he is cautious. do you stimulate your brain? >> i have in the past but i don't typically. i don't need it. i don't drink coffee, either. i don't feel like i need it, you know? >> reporter: i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" in albuquerque, new mexico. next, for some wealthy animal lovers, the road to the triple crown is about more than a sporting event. and we're in the thick of their race to riches. wait for me! there it is. ah! hurry up. you're heavy. are you sure these letters will get to santa? yes, of course. hold still. almost there. a little bit higher. i can't hold you up much longer. ah! whoa! [ all giggle ]

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so, how do you breed a million that are stallion? you're about to meet some well

heeled humans placing high hopes and a lot of money on their four-legged friends. olympic skier bode miller has his take on how to train these animals poised for greatness. but they all have to start somewhere. here's abc's byron pitts. ♪ >> reporter: this is bluegrass country. lexington, kentucky. every year, buyers and sellers. millionaires and billionaires, come here to a picturesque place for the largest thoroughbred auction on earth. >> i'm shell shocked. >> this is $1,600,000. >> reporter: mandy just spent $1.6 million on a horse that's never race eraced, never been r. >> he's big, he's strong. he's sensible. >> reporter: and expensive. >> he's expensive. if you want to be at the top, that's what you do. and then you pray a lot. >> reporter: she's praying her new horse will win day win racing's holy grail.

the triple crown. she runs the business from her home in ocala, florida. >> very sweet. he's a good boy. hopefully he'll make it as a stallion and he's going to be worth $20 million, $30 million in a couple of years. >> reporter: make no mistake. this is not her first rodeo. mandy paid a record $10 million for breeding mare two years ago. >> they're off in the kentucky derby! >> reporter: in the past nine years, graduates here have gone on to win half of all triple crown races. se animal kingdom won the kentucky derby in 2011. >> someone's probably hoping to find a derby winner at least. >> reporter: it's her job to sell horses for this farm, the largest consigner of horses this year. >> they are just trying to get their final looks in and decide which ones they want to bid on. >> reporter: occasionally

allaire has her favorites. >> just a neat horse. put together very well. got good natural bone and muscle substance. and a great brain. >> reporter: her client list, a global who's who of power and privilege. their private planes line up while they shop. >> the excitement of a horse race is incredible. >> reporter: olympic skiing star bode miller is part of the new generation of investors. >> horses that are under appreciated here, that can still race in the future, some of the horses that are going for over $1 million are never going to see the racetrack. >> reporter: long an advocate for innovation in his own sport, miller hopes to revolutionize the way horses are chosen and train trained. >> the technology that's available now, applying that to horse racing is a no brainer. but no one is doing it right now. it's an easy way for me to get involved. >> reporter: where are you from, sir? >> japan. >> reporter: jab papan. how is it going so far? >> i cannot speak english.

>> reporter: they are all fluent in horse. a language spoken in a whisper. people are very secretive around here. >> it takes a lot of work. >> reporter: horses are more than just a business. it's nice to see the way you smile when you talk about horses. this is in your blood. >> i haven't injected myself with horse blood, but it is. >> reporter: william runs the farm with his son, bill. he's been at this for 45 years. someone's going to spend $600,000, $700,000 on a horse that's never been ridden. never been in a race. no clue how it's going to do. >> absolutely. it's absolutely insane. >> reporter: we were surprised to see million dollar decisions made more on gut instincts than science. they look at the legs and what else? >> the way is horse is built. the slope of the shoulder. they're all things that make the horse either sound or not. >> reporter: nationally, horse racing is a $10 billion a year

industry. as an auctioneer, ryan may than is at the center of it all. >> i'm not creating the music, but i'm kind of driving the engine. in the back, $250,000. >> reporter: you don't see people standing up and waving their arms. >> we just sold a horse for $450,000, it was just a wink. >> reporter: he's seen the hunt for glory give way to anguish. >> there is great heartache. there is -- these are fragile legs and bones. it crushes you when things go wrong. >> reporter: barbar o's triple crown dreams were shattered when he broke his leg. he was eventually ewe thanized. but it's that risk reward and the love of these magnificent

animals which brings the faithful back year after year. and no one has more faith than fred mitchell. >> get on up here. >> that's my man, fred. >> reporter: fred is many things. blue blood is not one of them. he's the talk of the seaale, having sold a horse for $1.2 million. his first million dollar baby. >> at my age, it means a lot. it will be handed down to our girls. they've got something to look forward to. >> reporter: his farm has been in family since 1764. >> that was one thing that was in my mind when i sold, a million dollars. how proud would my father have been of me? >> reporter: what did you do to celebrate? >> i went home and got on the tractor and mowed some paddocks. >> reporter: as far mandy, she's celebrating another way. expensive glass of champagne. >> it is.

you think they'll give me a bottle? >> reporter: she's raising a glass to her horse's bright future. >> cheers. cheers to him. come here. >> reporter: champagne dream even the horse can indulge. >> that's all you can have. not too sure you like it, though. >> reporter: for mandy and many here, it's not just about the race or the possible riches, it is the romance. >> so good. >> reporter: for "nightline" -- >> such a good boy. >> reporter: i'm byron pitts in lexington, kentucky. up next, our michael strahan helps salute our veterans. how these two american heroes survived hell together and what brought them back.

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and finally, on this veterans day, we salute our american heroes. when the u.s. army master sergeant you're about to meet was shot in afghanistan, it was a fellow sergeant that helped save his life. but that's just the beginning of a story you won't soon forget. abc's michael strahan brings us inside their incredible bond. >> one look at mark and shawn, and you'd never know what they've been through. the elite green berets, protecting the most dangerous corners of the world. on may 31st, 2009, it was one mission that challenged their faith and sealed their bond. where were you both on that day? >> we were in southeast afghanistan. >> we targeted a taliban

commander. we knew he was there that day. we rolled out, we ran into a hornet's nest, really. i round the corner, that's when se shawn kicked the door. guy point blank took his ak, he shot right up shawn. >> shawn, gravely wounded, visions of his wife and sons flashing before him. >> i'm just thinking -- lord, let this be a dream. just please, lord, let this be a dream. the vision of those boys and trying to fight back to get back home to them and to my wife, to my family. >> bleeding out, shawn approaches his final breath. that's when mark, a medic, takes charge. diving through bull lets to treat shawn's wounds, convincing a medevac pilot to defy his orders and land inside the fire fight. >> mark's obviously my hero of the day. as are a lot of the guys on the team. >> reporter: the mission over, shawn's personal battle just

beginning. over 20 surgeries and five months. his room at walter reed medical center, the new fox hole. >> in our minds, we think we're these big bad green berets, and to be to the point where i can't even sit up under my own power, that was a pretty humbling experience. >> shawn finding his strength. his long road to recovery ending at a marathon=yk> i took the next nine months plus and went from kicking the walker away to dropping the cane and walking and jogging and then october 2010, i finished that marathon. >> i couldn't run a marathon, period. >> it wasn't just for me. these guys risked their lives, so, the best thing i can do is get back up on my feet and that's my thank you back to them. >> for "nightline," i'm michael strahan in new york.

>> wow. do you want to honor a vet? we want to hear from you. leave your message of thanks on our facebook page and use #honoravet. thank you for watching abc news. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow and as always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night, america. happy veterans day. ( siren wails ) ( pop music playing ) ♪ when you're ready ♪ ready, ready, ready ♪ come and get it ♪ get it, get it ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na na na na ♪ ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na... female announcer: it's a great big world and it can all be yours.

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