Abstract
Mindfulness-based training (MBT) and transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) methods such as direct current stimulation (tDCS) have demonstrated promise for the augmentation of cognitive abilities. The current study investigated the potential compatibility of concurrent “electrical” MBT and tDCS (or eMBT) by testing its combined effects on behavioral and neurophysiological indices of working memory (WM) and attentional resource allocation. Thirty-four healthy participants were randomly assigned to either a MBT task with tDCS group (eMBT) or an active control training task with sham tDCS (Control) group. Training lasted 4-weeks, with up to twenty MBT sessions and with up to eight of those sessions that were eMBT sessions. Electroencephalography was acquired during varying WM load conditions using the n-back task (1-, 2-, 3-back), along with performance on complex WM span tasks (operation and symmetry span) and fluid intelligence measures (Ravens and Shipley) before and after training. Improved performance was observed only on the 3-back and spatial span tasks for eMBT but not the Control group. During 3-back performance in the eMBT group, an increase in P3 amplitude and theta power at electrode site Pz was also observed, along with a simultaneous decrease in frontal midline P3 amplitude and theta power compared to the Control group. These results are consistent with the neural efficiency hypothesis, where higher cognitive capacity was associated with more distributed brain activity (i.e., increase in parietal and decrease in frontal amplitudes). Future longitudinal studies are called upon to further examine the direct contributions of tDCS on MBT by assessing the differential effects of electrode montage, polarity, current strength and a direct contrast between the eMBT and MBT conditions on performance and neuroimaging outcome data. While preliminary, the current results provided evidence for the potential compatibility of using eMBT to modulate WM capacity through the allocation of attention and its neurophysiological correlates.
Highlights
While neural plasticity refers to the brain’s capacity for structural and neurophysiological changes in response to environmental demands (L€ovden et al, 2010), cognitive plasticity refers to alterations in performance related to systems-level functionality (Mercado, 2008)
Of the four transfer tasks analyzed in the current study, only symmetry span (S-span) performance was significantly increased in the either a MBT task with Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) group (eMBT) group compared to the control training task with sham tDCS (Control) group
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first published work to objectively examine the working memory (WM) and attentional allocation effects of eMBT compared to an active control group
Summary
While neural plasticity refers to the brain’s capacity for structural and neurophysiological changes in response to environmental demands (L€ovden et al, 2010), cognitive plasticity refers to alterations in performance related to systems-level functionality (Mercado, 2008). Functional changes, such as increased dependence on executive functioning, in turn influences neuroplasticity (Greenwood and Parasuraman, 2010). The central executive component of WM engages attention to assist the memory system in maintaining goal-directed information in the face of distraction to favor (or bias toward) task-relevant stimuli (Miller and Cohen, 2001; Shah and Miyake, 1999; Braver, 2012; Engle and Kane, 2004; Missonnier et al, 2006)
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