tDCS selectively improves working memory in older adults with more education

Berryhill, Marian E.; Jones, Kevin T.

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2012.05.074

Cited by 262 publications

(243 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…In Experiment 2, there was no effect of tDCS in the low WM capacity group. Previously we reported that less educated older adults did not benefit from frontal lobe tDCS but better educated adults benefited (Berryhill and Jones, 2012). Experiment 2 replicated the finding that high WM capacity predicted a larger benefit of tDCS whereas low WM capacity showed no improvement.…”

Section: Group Differences Modulate Tdcs Effect Sizesupporting

confidence: 66%

“…During cathodal and anodal stimulation 1.5 mA current was applied for 10 min. Previous studies have found an effect of tDCS with 10 min of stimulation (Furubayashi et al, 2008;Berryhill et al, 2010;Andrews et al, 2011;Mulquiney et al, 2011;Antal et al, 2012;Berryhill and Jones, 2012;Kasashima et al, 2012). During sham stimulation participants received stimulation in which current lasted for 20 s at the start and end of the 10 min but no stimulation occurred in between.…”

Section: Tdcs Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parietal Contributions to Visual Working Memory Depend on Task Difficulty

Jones¹,

Crane²,

Feenstra³

et al. 2012

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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The nature of parietal contributions to working memory (WM) remain poorly understood but of considerable interest. We previously reported that posterior parietal damage selectively impaired WM probed by recognition (Berryhill and Olson, 2008a). Recent studies provided support using a neuromodulatory technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to the right parietal cortex (P4). These studies confirmed parietal involvement in WM because parietal tDCS altered WM performance: anodal current tDCS improved performance in a change detection task, and cathodal current tDCS impaired performance on a sequential presentation task. Here, we tested whether these complementary results were due to different degrees of parietal involvement as a function of WM task demands, WM task difficulty, and/or participants' WM capacity. In Experiment 1, we applied cathodal and anodal tDCS to the right parietal cortex and tested participants on both previously used WM tasks. We observed an interaction between tDCS (anodal, cathodal), WM task difficulty, and participants' WM capacity. When the WM task was difficult, parietal stimulation (anodal or cathodal) improved WM performance selectively in participants with high WM capacity. In the low WM capacity group, parietal stimulation (anodal or cathodal) impaired WM performance. These nearly equal and opposite effects were only observed when the WM task was challenging, as in the change detection task. Experiment 2 probed the interplay of WM task difficulty and WM capacity in a parametric manner by varying set size in the WM change detection task. Here, the effect of parietal stimulation (anodal or cathodal) on the high WM capacity group followed a linear function as WM task difficulty increased with set size. The low WM capacity participants were largely unaffected by tDCS. These findings provide evidence that parietal involvement in WM performance depends on both WM capacity and WM task demands. We discuss these findings in terms of alternative WM strategies employed by low and high WM capacity individuals. We speculate that low WM capacity individuals do not recruit the posterior parietal lobe for WM tasks as efficiently as high WM capacity individuals. Consequently, tDCS provides greater benefit to individuals with high WM capacity.

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Section: Group Differences Modulate Tdcs Effect Sizesupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Tdcs Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parietal Contributions to Visual Working Memory Depend on Task Difficulty

Jones¹,

Crane²,

Feenstra³

et al. 2012

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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“…One tDCS study (Berryhill & Jones, 2012) performed 20 seconds of electric current at the start and at the end of the sham stimulation period in order to mimic the tingling associated with the current change. The sham rTMS procedure was more heterogeneous.…”

Section: Quality Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory improvement with non-invasive brain stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Brunoni

Vanderhasselt

2014

Brain and Cognition

557

411

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Recent studies have used non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), to increase dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity and, consequently, working memory (WM) performance.. However, such experiments have yielded mixed results, possibly due to small sample sizes and heterogeneity of outcomes. Therefore, our aim was to perform a systematic review and metaanalyses on NIBS studies assessing the n-back task, which is a reliable index for WM. From the first data available to February 2013, we looked for sham-controlled, randomized studies that used NIBS over the DLPFC using the n-back task in PubMed/MEDLINE and other databases. Twelve studies (describing 33 experiments) matched our eligibility criteria. Active vs. sham NIBS was significantly associated with faster response times (RT), higher percentage of correct responses and lower percentage of error responses. However, meta-regressions showed that tDCS (vs. rTMS) presented an improvement only in RT. This could have occurred in part because almost all tDCS studies employed a crossover design (possibly more employed in tDCS over rTMS due to the reliable tDCS blinding) -this factor (study design) was also associated with no improvement in correct responses in the active vs. sham groups. To conclude, rTMS over the DLPFC significantly improved all measures of WM performance whereas tDCS significantly improved RT, but not the percentage of correct and error responses. Mechanistic insights on the role of DLPFC in WM are further discussed, as well as how NIBS techniques could be used in neuropsychiatric samples presenting WM deficits, such as major depression, dementia and schizophrenia.

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“…Recent studies suggest that the specifi c effects also depend in a non-linear fashion on stimulation intensity [34] , interindividual anatomical and demographic differences [35][36][37] , and task phase (learning versus overlearned [38] ), and that left prefrontal anodal tDCS can also improve performance in other working memory tasks [39] . Given the performancerelated alteration of oscillatory activity [31,40] , the contribution of theta activity to working memory performance was explored in subsequent studies.…”

Section: Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring prefrontal cortex functions in healthy humans by transcranial electrical stimulation

Kuo

Nitsche²

2015

Neurosci. Bull.

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The prefrontal cortex is involved in a multitude of cognitive, emotional, motivational, and social processes, so exploring its specifi c functions is crucial for understanding human experience and behavior. Functional imaging approaches have largely contributed to the enhancement of our understanding, but might have limitations in establishing causal relationships between physiology and the related psychological and behavioral processes. Non-invasive electrical stimulation with direct or alternating currents can help to enhance our understanding with regard to specific processes, and might provide future protocols able to improve them in case of malfunctions. We review the current state of the fi eld, and provide an outlook for future developments.

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tDCS selectively improves working memory in older adults with more education

Cited by 262 publications

References 47 publications

Parietal Contributions to Visual Working Memory Depend on Task Difficulty

Parietal Contributions to Visual Working Memory Depend on Task Difficulty

Working memory improvement with non-invasive brain stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Exploring prefrontal cortex functions in healthy humans by transcranial electrical stimulation

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