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Brief Communications

The Mental Cost of Cognitive Enhancement

Teresa Iuculano and Roi Cohen Kadosh
Journal of Neuroscience 6 March 2013, 33 (10) 4482-4486; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4927-12.2013
Teresa Iuculano
1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom,
2Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom, and
3Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Palo Alto, California 94304
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Roi Cohen Kadosh
1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom,
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Abstract

Noninvasive brain stimulation provides a potential tool for affecting brain functions in the typical and atypical brain and offers in several cases an alternative to pharmaceutical intervention. Some studies have suggested that transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), a form of noninvasive brain stimulation, can also be used to enhance cognitive performance. Critically, research so far has primarily focused on optimizing protocols for effective stimulation, or assessing potential physical side effects of TES while neglecting the possibility of cognitive side effects. We assessed this possibility by targeting the high-level cognitive abilities of learning and automaticity in the mathematical domain. Notably, learning and automaticity represent critical abilities for potential cognitive enhancement in typical and atypical populations. Over 6 d, healthy human adults underwent cognitive training on a new numerical notation while receiving TES to the posterior parietal cortex or the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Stimulation to the the posterior parietal cortex facilitated numerical learning, whereas automaticity for the learned material was impaired. In contrast, stimulation to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex impaired the learning process, whereas automaticity for the learned material was enhanced. The observed double dissociation indicates that cognitive enhancement through TES can occur at the expense of other cognitive functions. These findings have important implications for the future use of enhancement technologies for neurointervention and performance improvement in healthy populations.

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The Journal of Neuroscience: 33 (10)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 33, Issue 10
6 Mar 2013
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The Mental Cost of Cognitive Enhancement
Teresa Iuculano, Roi Cohen Kadosh
Journal of Neuroscience 6 March 2013, 33 (10) 4482-4486; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4927-12.2013

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The Mental Cost of Cognitive Enhancement
Teresa Iuculano, Roi Cohen Kadosh
Journal of Neuroscience 6 March 2013, 33 (10) 4482-4486; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4927-12.2013
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