Abstract
Cognitive control of information processing is an essential prerequisite of human behavior. Particularly, focusing attention in the face of failure poses a common challenge. Previous work has demonstrated that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) can improve cognitive control in a challenging and repeatedly frustrating task. In a randomized, sham-controlled, crossover design 22 healthy, male participants performed an adaptive 2-back version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT), parallel to anodal or sham tDCS over the left dlPFC and the return electrode on the right upper arm. Before and after the 2-back PASAT, the affective state was assessed by means of the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS). We observed an interaction between stimulation condition and task performance driven by an increase in performance with anodal tDCS and no improvement with sham stimulation. In addition, after the 2-back PASAT we found a higher positive and a trend towards lower negative affect with anodal as compared to sham tDCS. Our data support and extend previous results showing improved processing speed under anodal stimulation associated with a reduced task-induced negative affect indicating an improvement of cognitive control. Further studies will investigate long-term effects and clinical applicability.
Highlights
Coping with the complexity and challenges of our daily life requires cognitive flexibility and control of our emotions and behavior
It has been shown that anodal Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) improves impaired cognitive control in patients suffering from depression[15], whereas cathodal stimulation of the left dlPFC in healthy subjects elicits deficits in cognitive control over negative stimuli[23]
The present study aimed at adding evidence that anodal tDCS over the left dlPFC can improve cognitive control in terms of effective information processing under challenging, repeatedly frustrating conditions
Summary
Coping with the complexity and challenges of our daily life requires cognitive flexibility and control of our emotions and behavior. The present study is investigating whether 20 min of anodal tDCS over the left dlPFC affects performance in a potentially stressful and frustrating task. Previous data provided evidence that anodal dlPFC stimulation during PASAT performance improves processing speed, presumably by enhancing cognitive control on negative and distracting self-referential processes and suppressing task-related negative affect[24].
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