TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of tDCS electrode montage on attention and working memory
AU - Martin, Donel M.
AU - Rushby, Jacqueline A.
AU - De Blasio, Frances M.
AU - Wearne, Travis
AU - Osborne-Crowley, Katherine
AU - Francis, Heather
AU - Xu, Mei
AU - Loo, Colleen
AU - McDonald, Skye
PY - 2023/1/28
Y1 - 2023/1/28
N2 - The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for improving attention and working memory have been generally mixed and small, potentially due to variability between studies with montages, stimulus parameters and outcome measures. The tDCS montage is an important parameter which determines the degree and intensity of stimulation in targeted brain regions. This study aimed to examine the effects of using three different montages for modulating attention and working memory performance: Bi-frontal, Broad-frontal and Broad-parietal. Ninety-three healthy adults participated in a counterbalanced cross-over study. Participants received both active and sham tDCS with either the Bi-frontal, Broad-frontal or Broad-parietal montage during performance of both a 1- and 2-back task. TDCS montage moderated 2-back working memory reaction time performance, though not accuracy, with faster reaction times observed for active compared to sham tDCS with the Broad-frontal montage only (F (1,90) = 5.26, p = .024, η2 = 0.06). TDCS montage did not significantly moderate performance on the 1-back task. The cognitive effects of tDCS varied according to montage, task, and outcome measure. TDCS administered with the cathode placed extracephalically in a Broad-frontal montage may be beneficial for improving working memory.
AB - The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for improving attention and working memory have been generally mixed and small, potentially due to variability between studies with montages, stimulus parameters and outcome measures. The tDCS montage is an important parameter which determines the degree and intensity of stimulation in targeted brain regions. This study aimed to examine the effects of using three different montages for modulating attention and working memory performance: Bi-frontal, Broad-frontal and Broad-parietal. Ninety-three healthy adults participated in a counterbalanced cross-over study. Participants received both active and sham tDCS with either the Bi-frontal, Broad-frontal or Broad-parietal montage during performance of both a 1- and 2-back task. TDCS montage moderated 2-back working memory reaction time performance, though not accuracy, with faster reaction times observed for active compared to sham tDCS with the Broad-frontal montage only (F (1,90) = 5.26, p = .024, η2 = 0.06). TDCS montage did not significantly moderate performance on the 1-back task. The cognitive effects of tDCS varied according to montage, task, and outcome measure. TDCS administered with the cathode placed extracephalically in a Broad-frontal montage may be beneficial for improving working memory.
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:68785
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.10846t2
DO - 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.10846t2
M3 - Article
SN - 0028-3932
VL - 179
JO - Neuropsychologia
JF - Neuropsychologia
M1 - 108462
ER -