Abstract
Transcranial electric stimulation such as transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been used to investigate structure-function relationships in numerical cognition. Recently, tRNS was suggested to be more effective than tDCS. However, so far there is no evidence on the differential impact of tDCS and tRNS on numerical cognition using the same experimental paradigm. In the present study, we used a two-digit addition paradigm for which significant—albeit small—effects of tDCS were observed previously to evaluate the impact of parietal and frontal tRNS on specific numerical effects. While previous studies reported a modulation of numerical effects of this task through tDCS applied to parietal areas, we did not observe any effect of parietal tRNS on performance in two-digit addition. These findings suggest that tRNS seemed to influence concurrent mental arithmetic less than tDCS at least when applied over the IPS. These generally small to absent effects of tES on actual arithmetic performance in the current addition paradigm are in line with the results of a recent meta-analysis indicating that influences of tES may be more pronounced in training paradigms.
Highlights
Numerical cognition in general and mental arithmetic in particular are important multi-dimensional competences for which neuroimaging studies suggest various brain regions to be involved
Participants responded faster to large compared to small distractor distances (2,672 ms vs. 2,746 ms, respectively), to noncarry as opposed to carry problems (2,537 ms vs. 2,880 ms, respectively), and to identical compared to non-identical targets (2,636 ms vs. 2,782 ms, respectively)
We did not find any effect of parietal transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) on two-digit addition performance
Summary
Numerical cognition in general and mental arithmetic in particular are important multi-dimensional competences for which neuroimaging studies suggest various brain regions to be involved (see Arsalidou and Taylor, 2011 for a meta-analysis on brain activation in mental arithmetic). One possible approach to investigate the functional relevance of specific cortex areas for cognitive processes in general and numerical cognition in particular is to externally manipulate the activation of these areas by applying transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) and evaluate possible changes in behavior. The underlying idea is to modulate (i.e., either facilitate or impair) numerical processing by activating or inhibiting certain cognitive processes subserved by the respective stimulated areas. It is of specific interest whether or not numerical cognition can be improved by tES applied to brain areas assumed to be critically involved. We describe the results of an experiment which followed-up
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
