Abstract
The capacity to selectively focus on a particular speaker of interest in a complex acoustic environment with multiple persons speaking simultaneously-a so-called "cocktail-party" situation-is of decisive importance for human verbal communication. Here, the efficacy of single-dose transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) in improving this ability was tested in young healthy adults (n = 24), using a spatial task that required the localization of a target word in a simulated "cocktail-party" situation. In a sham-controlled crossover design, offline bihemispheric double-monopolar anodal tDCS was applied for 30min at 1mA over auditory regions of temporal lobe, and the participant's performance was assessed prior to tDCS, immediately after tDCS, and 1h after tDCS. A significant increase in the amount of correct localizations by on average 3.7 percentage points (d = 1.04) was found after active, relative to sham, tDCS, with only insignificant reduction of the effect within 1h after tDCS offset. Thus, the method of bihemispheric tDCS could be a promising tool for enhancement of human auditory attentional functions that are relevant for spatial orientation and communication in everyday life.
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