Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 512, Issue 1, 14 March 2012, Pages 33-37
Neuroscience Letters

Enhancement of selective attention by tDCS: Interaction with interference in a Sternberg task

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2012.01.056Get rights and content

Abstract

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) enhances performance on working memory tasks. However, such effects may be dependent on modulation of specific aspects of working memory. We therefore tested the hypothesis that tDCS improves selective attention in the context of a Sternberg task. Subjects had to maintain a memory set while responding to distracter stimuli. Probes consisted of one item from the memory set, and one item that could have been presented as a distracter. TDCS was found to improve reaction time significantly only when the incorrect choice had been a distracter stimulus. The results thus support the notion that tDCS effects on working memory might be mediated by a specific effect on selective attention.

Highlights

Transcranial direct current stimulation improves working memory. ► We studied whether tDCS affects selective attention in particular. ► Subjects performed a Sternberg task involving interference. ► TDCS improved performance only on probes involving distracter stimuli. ► Selective attention thus appears to be improved by tDCS.

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      During tDCS, low electrical current increases the excitability of neurons close to the anode and the stimulation effects remain visible up to several hours after termination of the stimulation (Nitsche and Paulus, 2000; Reinhart et al., 2017). Positive effects for single sessions of tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLFPC) were found for several cognitive domains including attention (i.e., a Sternberg task; Gladwin et al. 2012) and speed of processing (Plewnia et al., 2015) in young adults. For working memory (WM) it seems like a training with repeated sessions in combination with tDCS is more effective than single sessions (Mancuso et al., 2016).

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    The authors are supported by VICI award 453.08.01 from the Netherlands National Science Foundation (N.W.O.) and FMG-UvA Research Priority Grant on Affect-Regulation.

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