Abstract
Administering anodal transcranial direct current stimulation at the left dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) but not right PMd throughout the repetitive practice of three novel motor sequences resulted in improved offline performance usually only observed after interleaved practice. This gain only emerged following overnight sleep. These data are consistent with the proposed proprietary role of left PMd for motor sequence learning and the more recent claim that PMd is central to sleep-related consolidation of novel skill memory.
Highlights
Transcranial direct current stimulation can modulate cortical excitability and facilitate skill acquisition
Anodal Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was used to examine a causal link between M12 and SMA3 with the extent of offline skill enhancement for multiple novel motor skills following interleaved practice (IP) and repetitive practice (RP) formats
Anodal tDCS was administered at M1 or SMA during 20-min session of RP as novel motor sequences were performed with the left index finger (Fig. 1A, B)
Summary
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modulate cortical excitability and facilitate skill acquisition. The choice of neural targets for exogenous stimulation in these studies was based on a report from functional imaging work of heightened activity at M1, SMA, and PMd during IP being associated with greater offline gain in skill[4] These initial investigations focused on upregulating activity at contralateral M1 or SMA during RP, using anodal tDCS, in an attempt to induce offline gain more typical of IP. Rather than the usual significant forgetting immediately after RP, early consolidation emerged reflected in the stable performance exhibited across a 6-h post practice test interval This was accompanied by a subsequent enhancement in skill memory following overnight sleep in the absence of further RP. This work was based on recent reports that recruitment of PMd is central to the retention advantage typically associated with exposure to a training in an IP format[8]
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