[ARTICLE] Null Effects on Working Memory and Verbal Fluency Tasks When Applying Anodal tDCS to the Inferior Frontal Gyrus of Healthy Participants – Full Text

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a technique used to modify cognition by modulating underlying cortical excitability via weak electric current applied through the scalp. Although many studies have reported positive effects with tDCS, a number of recent studies highlight that tDCS effects can be small and difficult to reproduce. This is especially the case when attempting to modulate performance using single applications of tDCS in healthy participants. Possible reasons may be that optimal stimulation parameters have yet to be identified, and that individual variation in cortical activity and/or level of ability confound outcomes. To address these points, we carried out a series of experiments in which we attempted to modulate performance in fluency and working memory probe tasks using stimulation parameters which have been associated with positive outcomes: we targeted the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and compared performance when applying a 1.5 mA anodal current for 25 min and with sham stimulation. There is evidence that LIFG plays a role in these tasks and previous studies have found positive effects of stimulation. We also compared our experimental group (N = 19–20) with a control group receiving no stimulation (n = 24). More importantly, we also considered effects on subgroups subdivided according to memory span as well as to more direct measures of executive function abilities and motivational levels. We found no systematic effect of stimulation. Our findings are in line with a growing body of evidence that tDCS produces unreliable effects. We acknowledge that our findings speak to the conditions we investigated, and that alternative protocols (e.g., multiple sessions, clinical samples, and different stimulation polarities) may be more effective. We encourage further research to explore optimal conditions for tDCS efficacy, given the potential benefits that this technique poses for understanding and enhancing cognition.

Introduction

Transcranial direct current stimulation (or tDCS) is a non-invasive form of brain stimulation which is used to modulate cognitive performance by applying a weak electric current via electrodes placed on the scalp. Early studies measuring effects of tDCS on motor cortical excitability suggested that the applied current can cause directional changes in the resting membrane potentials underneath the electrodes—with predominant depolarization under the anode (known as anodal tDCS) vs. hyperpolarization under the cathode (cathodal tDCS; de Berker et al., 2013). It is widely assumed that effects on cortical excitability map on to cognitive effects, with anodal vs. cathodal tDCS improving vs. worsening the cognitive function of targeted brains regions. However, though widely assumed, this might not necessarily be the case. Current flows between the electrodes with complex effects that are poorly understood. Moreover, an important confounding factor modulating the impact of tDCS may be individual variation in cortical activity and/or level of ability (for reviews, see Miniussi et al., 2013; Horvath et al., 2015; Li et al., 2015; Westwood and Romani, 2017; Westwood et al., 2017). These are widely cited as explanations for a number of recent reports of negative, inconsistent, and/or small effects linked to single applications of tDCS especially in healthy participants (see Horvath et al., 2015; Mancuso et al., 2016; Westwood et al., 2017). Our study will contribute to clarify the scope of tDCS effects by considering tasks that tax executive selection abilities, mediated by the frontal lobes, and where positive, but inconsistent, effects have been reported before. We will consider effects on the whole participant group, but crucially also on subgroups subdivided according to (a) general performance and control abilities; (b) working memory span; and (c) motivation levels to see whether these variables affect tDCS outcomes.[…]

 

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