Cognitive function assessment during 2 mA transcranial direct current stimulation in DLPFC in healthy volunteers.

Shahid Bashir,Syed S Habib,Fawaz Al‐Hussain,Ali Hamza,Raidah Albaradie,Talha Asim Niaz

doi:10.14814/phy2.14264

Abstract

Although cognitive function has been reported to change following the anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) but still variable results have been reported in healthy subject and there is paucity of data on the cognitive effects of online tDCS. Therefore, we aimed to assess the online effect of tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on cognitive function and obtain safety data in healthy adults. We recruited 36 healthy (20 male) participants for this double‐blind, sham‐controlled parallel design. We used Stop Signal Task (SST) Go Trial and Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM) tests to evaluate cognitive function during 2 mA (20 min) anodal or sham tDCS stimulation over the left DLPFC. In active conditions, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was selected for electrode placement with reference over right supraorbital cortex. All related tasks were done during the online tDCS section in both groups (active/sham). There were statistically significant differences in cognitive function according to the PRM test (P = 0.003), SST (P = 0.021), and SST correct response time on Go Trials (P = 0.02) during active stimulation compared to the sham group. Our results reveal that cognitive performance is affected by a single dose of active online tDCS over DLPFC area compared to sham stimulation. In our study, tDCS is well‐tolerated and safe that further supports the safety of tDCS in local healthy population.

Highlights

Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society
The subjects were in two groups matched for Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) scores (P = 0.96)
The first objective was to test whether the cognitive performance was performed better during active stimulation compared to the participants that received sham stimulation (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

There is developing evidence that tDCS of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) improves cognitive performance both healthy individuals and patients suffering from various neurological diseases (e.g., on working memory training; (Coffman and Parasuraman 2014; Brunoni and Vanderhasselt 2014; Horvath et al 2014) Such positive tDCS effects in single and multiple session on cognitive performance over several days (Reis et al 2008; Thomson 2010; Boggio et al 2010; Bolognini et al 2010; Coffman et al 2012), with an improvement of up to 3 months Reis et al (2008).

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion