Education moderates the effect of tDCS on episodic memory performance in cognitively impaired patients

Krebs, Christine; Klöppel, Stefan; Heimbach, Bernhard; Peter, Jessica

doi:10.1016/j.brs.2020.07.008

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Furthermore, there is no clear picture of increased efficacy in either age group. For example, our observations support the conclusions drawn by Peter et al 87 , who showed that anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC can reduce stress and thus improve verbal episodic memory performance, but only in the young age cohort and not in older adults. On the other hand, our results contrast the findings of Antonenko et al 84 , who demonstrated increased accuracy on an implicit language learning task following active theta tACS applied to the temporoparietal cortex only in old but not in young adults.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Prefrontal theta—gamma transcranial alternating current stimulation improves non-declarative visuomotor learning in older adults

Diedrich,

Kolhoff,

Chakalov

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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The rise in the global population of older adults underscores the significance to investigate age-related cognitive disorders and develop early treatment modalities. Previous research suggests that non-invasive transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) can moderately improve cognitive decline in older adults. However, non-declarative cognition has received relatively less attention. This study investigates whether repeated (16-day) bilateral theta—gamma cross-frequency tACS targeting the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) enhances non-declarative memory. Computerized cognitive training was applied alongside stimulation to control for the state-of-the-brain. The Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task was employed to assess non-declarative functions such as visuomotor skill and probabilistic sequence learning. Results from 35 participants aged 55–82 indicated that active tACS led to more substantial improvements in visuomotor skills immediately after treatment, which persisted 3 months later, compared to sham tACS. Treatment benefit was more pronounced in older adults of younger age and those with pre-existing cognitive decline. However, neither intervention group exhibited modulation of probabilistic sequence learning. These results suggest that repeated theta—gamma tACS can selectively improve distinct non-declarative cognitive aspects when targeting the DLPFC. Our findings highlight the therapeutic potential of tACS in addressing deficits in learning and retaining general skills, which could have a positive impact on the quality of life for cognitively impaired older individuals by preserving independence in daily activities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Previous studies demonstrated that age 38 , 84 – 87 and the cognitive level 88 , 89 may influence the effectiveness of tES interventions. We can corroborate the aforementioned studies by demonstrating that younger participants and those afflicted with pre-existing cognitive decline exhibit a more pronounced tACS treatment effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prefrontal theta—gamma transcranial alternating current stimulation improves non-declarative visuomotor learning in older adults

Diedrich,

Kolhoff,

Chakalov

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Because educational level moderates some of the benefits from tDCS ( Berryhill and Jones, 2012 ; Krebs et al, 2020 ), we further evaluated correlations between tDCS neuromodulation and listeners’ education. We found a negative association between education attainment and the music-related modulation in ERPs during tDCS; listeners with more formal education showed lower neuroplastic change in the N1 than those with lesser education ( R 2 = 0.31, p = 0.039; Figure 6A ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Listening to Preferred Music Alters Cortical Speech Processing in Older Adults

et al. 2022

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Emerging evidence suggests transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve cognitive performance in older adults. Similarly, music listening may improve arousal and stimulate subsequent performance on memory-related tasks. We examined the synergistic effects of tDCS paired with music listening on auditory neurobehavioral measures to investigate causal evidence of short-term plasticity in speech processing among older adults. In a randomized sham-controlled crossover study, we measured how combined anodal tDCS over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) paired with listening to autobiographically salient music alters neural speech processing in older adults compared to either music listening (sham stimulation) or tDCS alone. EEG assays included both frequency-following responses (FFRs) and auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) to trace neuromodulation-related changes at brainstem and cortical levels. Relative to music without tDCS (sham), we found tDCS alone (without music) modulates the early cortical neural encoding of speech in the time frame of ∼100–150 ms. Whereas tDCS by itself appeared to largely produce suppressive effects (i.e., reducing ERP amplitude), concurrent music with tDCS restored responses to those of the music+sham levels. However, the interpretation of this effect is somewhat ambiguous as this neural modulation could be attributable to a true effect of tDCS or presence/absence music. Still, the combined benefit of tDCS+music (above tDCS alone) was correlated with listeners’ education level suggesting the benefit of neurostimulation paired with music might depend on listener demographics. tDCS changes in speech-FFRs were not observed with DLPFC stimulation. Improvements in working memory pre to post session were also associated with better speech-in-noise listening skills. Our findings provide new causal evidence that combined tDCS+music relative to tDCS-alone (i) modulates the early (100–150 ms) cortical encoding of speech and (ii) improves working memory, a cognitive skill which may indirectly bolster noise-degraded speech perception in older listeners.

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“…Although it was not anticipated, it is not a wholly unique finding. Recent work has found that anodal tDCS selectively improved working memory in healthy aging adults 31 and episodic memory in cognitively impaired adults (with Alzheimer's dementia) 32 who had completed a greater number of years of education. Conversely, less educated groups saw no added benefit of its application.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual Differences in Response to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation With Language Therapy in Subacute Stroke

Stockbridge,

Elm,

Teklehaimanot

et al. 2023

Neurorehabil Neural Repair

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Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be used to improve post-stroke aphasia. However, given the mixed evidence for its efficacy, individual differences may moderate the relative benefit of this strategy. In planned exploratory subgroup analyses, we examined whether age, education, sex, brain-derived neurotrophic factor status, and baseline performance individually impacted improvement in picture naming between baseline and 1 week after the end of the therapy, then whether the combination of factors that predicted recovery of naming and discourse differed for those who received concurrent tDCS. Objective Examine whether individual differences influenced the effect of tDCS on language recovery. Methods In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, efficacy study of tDCS combined with language therapy for subacute post-stroke aphasia, patients completed an evaluation including the Philadelphia Naming Test and Cookie Theft picture description, which was analyzed for Content Units (CU) and Syllables/CU. Individual factors were examined using linear models including the interaction between treatment group and subgroup. Results Significant interactions were observed between tDCS group and both age and education. The predictors of a positive response to tDCS differed from the predictors of a positive response to language treatment alone. While baseline performance was an important predictor of future performance regardless of treatment group, responses to treatment without tDCS were influenced by age whereas responses to treatment with tDCS were not. Conclusions Age and education influence the efficacy of different treatment strategies. Refinement of treatment selection is important to the overall individualization and optimization of post-stroke patient care. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02674490.

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Education moderates the effect of tDCS on episodic memory performance in cognitively impaired patients

Cited by 7 publications

References 7 publications

Prefrontal theta—gamma transcranial alternating current stimulation improves non-declarative visuomotor learning in older adults

Prefrontal theta—gamma transcranial alternating current stimulation improves non-declarative visuomotor learning in older adults

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Listening to Preferred Music Alters Cortical Speech Processing in Older Adults

Individual Differences in Response to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation With Language Therapy in Subacute Stroke

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