Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) can modulate working memory (WM) performance. However, evidence regarding the enhancement of WM training, its sustainability and transferability is ambiguous. Since WM functioning appears to be lateralized in respect to stimulus characteristics, this study examined the difference between task-congruent (spatial-right, verbal-left), task-incongruent (spatial-left, verbal-right) and sham tDCS in regards to the efficacy of WM training. In a randomized, sham-controlled experiment, 71 healthy adults trained on a spatial or verbal adaptive n-back task. After a baseline session, anodal or sham tDCS (1 mA) to the right or left dlPFC was applied during the next three training sessions. Sustainability of training gains and near-transfer (verbal or spatial 3-back task) were tested in a fourth training and a follow-up session. Compared to sham stimulation, we found a steeper learning curve when WM training was combined with task-congruent tDCS. This advantage was also present compared to task-incongruent tDCS. Moreover, these effects lasted for up to nine months and transferred to the respective untrained task. These long-lasting, transferable, task-specific effects demonstrate a behaviorally relevant and sustainable facilitation of neuroplastic processes by tDCS that could be harnessed for the treatment of disorders associated with deficient WM.

Patients with chronic pain report reduced quality of life and high symptom burden while often responding insufficiently to treatment options. Mirror therapy has been proven to be effective in treating phantom limb pain and other conditions such as CRPS. This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of mirror therapy in patients with somatoform pain disorders on symptom severity and associated physiological parameters. Fifteen patients with persistent somatoform pain disorder (F45.40) or chronic pain disorder with somatic and psychological factors (F45.41) participated and received four weeks of tablet-based mirror therapy. Symptom severity was measured with established questionnaires, and their thermal detection, pain thresholds, and heart rate variability (HRV) were also assessed. After mirror therapy, pain intensity was reduced (z = −2.878, p = 0.004), and pain thresholds for cold stimuli were also diminished, i.e., the subjects became more sensitive to cold stimuli (z = −2.040, p = 0.041). In addition, a reduction of absolute power in the low-frequency band of HRV (t(13) = 2.536, p = 0.025) was detected. These findings indicate that this intervention may reduce pain intensity and modulate associated physiological parameters. As these results are limited by several factors, e.g., a small sample size and no control group, they should be validated in further studies investigating this novel intervention in these patients.

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In this autoethnographic quadrologue, the authors aim to show how meditation experiences defy verbalization in a qualitative research setting. This leads to the insight that an autoethnographic approach may be a much better fit for such an experience, where complex and inexpressible things can be found. This is especially the case since autoethnographic texts include and immerse the reader in the experience. Even though in the case of meditation this can hardly be achieved, this quadrologue aims at conveying some of the struggles and peculiarities of meditation practice. It focuses on the research process leading to the decision to employ an autoethnography paradigm. Thus, the focus of this article is the differentiation of autoethnography from other methodological approaches and the conscious decision in favour of this method, which is rather unusual in German-speaking countries. The authors develop the thesis that both the meditation experience and the decision to employ an autoethnographic paradigm led to the experience of “wandering off the beaten track” and crossing the boundaries of what is usually done in society and social science respectively.