Alpha-tACS Alters Attentional Control but not Cognitive Functions as Video Games Do: A Psychophysical Investigation based on the Theory of Visual Attention

Abstract

We aimed to validate a recent approach to explain cognitive enhancements in video game players according to which transfer effects may be related to differential attentional control functions as a result of video game playing. For this, we developed an experimental design where 19 non-video game players performed a visual short-term memory paradigm at five different days and experienced one of five different stimulation protocols on each day, respectively. Stimulation protocols comprised transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) applied either at 10 Hz (alpha frequency) or 16.18 Hz (control frequency) over either the left or right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) or a sham stimulation. Individuals' speed of information processing and short-term memory capacity were modeled by means of a computational modeling approach based on the theory of visual attention (TVA) and served to operationalize transfer effects. Moreover, their visusopatial attentional processing and top-down control were modeled by applying the same approach and served as indicators for which attentional control functions may be related to transfer effects. We hypothesized that alpha-tACS would modulate these functions given that alpha brain oscillatory activity likely represents a neuronal substrate of attentional control. In fact, alpha-tACS applied to the left PPC modulated participants’ visuospatial attentional processing. However, this effect did not cause transfer effects. Thus, our results do not support the hypothesis that differential attentional control may account for video gaming effects.