The effects of offline and online prefrontal vs parietal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on verbal and spatial working memory

Živanović, Marko; Paunović, Dunja; Konstantinović, Uroš; Vulić, Katarina; Bjekić, Jovana; Filipović, Saša R.

doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107398

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…However, as discussed previously, the effect of taVNS on WM mainly depends on the LC-NE release system, which need time to take effect, and this might be the first possible explanation. Furthermore, researches from tDCS showed that there was a trend toward improvement for offline WM performance but was not on online performance in the healthy subjects, whereas the neuropsychiatric cohort exhibited an opposite pattern (e.g., Živanović et al, 2021 ; for review, see Hill et al, 2016 ). As online tDCS alters neuronal firing by changing membrane potential, whereas the aftereffects of tDCS stem from changes in synaptic strength, these authors attributed their findings to the optimal cortical excitation/inhibition balance and insufficient neuronal excitability changes in online stimulation in healthy adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beyond the stimulation protocols, the modulation of taVNS might also depend on the properties of the output measure used. Namely, although n-back is a typical paradigm for WM assessment, the numbers of steps back, for example, 1-back ( Sandrini et al, 2012 ), 2-back ( Keshvari et al, 2013 ; Hill et al, 2019 ), and 3-back ( Hill et al, 2019 ; Živanović et al, 2021 ), as well as the stimuli of the task, for example, spatial ( Živanović et al, 2021 ), letters ( Hill et al, 2019 ), digits ( Nozari and Thompson-Schill, 2013 ), and objects ( Keshvari et al, 2013 ), are highly variable in the literature. The current study specifically found the taVNS effect on 3-back spatial WM task but not on spatial 1-back or digit 3-back tasks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At present, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS; Andrews et al, 2011 ; Arkan, 2019 ; Živanović et al, 2021 ), transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS; Ermolova et al, 2019 ; Benussi et al, 2021 ), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS; Chen et al, 2015 ; Hulst et al, 2017 ), have become one of the mainstream clinical treatment approaches to moderate the WM because of their potential, convenience, and safety. Although some of previous studies have demonstrated the availability of transcranial current stimulation on modulating WM by altering the activity of neurons through changing the resting membrane potential of neurons ( Bindman et al, 1962 ; Nitsche and Paulus, 2000 ), some recent studies found limited positive effects of tDCS on WM accuracy with a minor reaction time enhancement in healthy cohorts (e.g., Koshy et al, 2020 ; Shires et al, 2020 ; for meta-analysis, see Hill et al, 2016 ; Medina and Cason, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, the effect of tDCS on WM heavily relies on the stimulation form (online/offline), stimulation duration, current density, and stimulation area (right or left dorsolateral/ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, or premotor cortex, etc. ), which have been further studied (e.g., Nikolin et al, 2018 ; Živanović et al, 2021 ). The same problems also appeared in tACS and TMS studies ( Chung et al, 2018 ; Pavlov et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Improves Spatial Working Memory in Healthy Young Adults

et al. 2021

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Working memory (WM) is one of the core components of higher cognitive functions. There exists debate regarding the extent to which current techniques can enhance human WM capacity. Here, we examined the WM modulation effects of a previously less studied technique, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). In experiment 1, a within-subject study, we aimed to investigate whether and which stimulation protocols of taVNS can modulate spatial WM performance in healthy adults. Forty-eight participants performed baseline spatial n-back tasks (1, 3-back) and then received online taVNS, offline taVNS, or sham stimulation before or during (online group) the posttest of spatial n-back tasks in random order. Results showed that offline taVNS could significantly increase hits in spatial 3-back task, whereas no effect was found in online taVNS or sham group. No significant taVNS effects were found on correct rejections or reaction time of accurate trials (aRT) in both online and offline protocols. To replicate the results found in experiment 1 and further investigate the generalization effect of offline taVNS, we carried out experiment 2. Sixty participants were recruited and received offline taVNS or offline earlobe stimulation in random order between baseline and posttests of behavioral tests (spatial/digit 3-back tasks). Results replicated the findings; offline taVNS could improve hits but not correct rejections or aRT in spatial WM performance, which were found in experiment 1. However, there were no significant stimulation effects on digit 3-back task. Overall, the findings suggest that offline taVNS has potential on modulating WM performance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Improves Spatial Working Memory in Healthy Young Adults

et al. 2021

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“…Interestingly, this effect seemed to be modality specific as no significant effects were found for the online WMT comprising faces and scenes stimuli. Notably, other explanations for the modality-specific aftereffects are possible as different effects of offline and online stimulation on various WMTs have been observed [58].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of Working Memory and Resting-State fMRI by tDCS of the Right Frontoparietal Network

et al. 2021

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Many cognitive functions, including working memory, are processed within large-scale brain networks. We targeted the right frontoparietal network (FPN) with one session of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in an attempt to modulate the cognitive speed of a visual working memory task (WMT) in 27 young healthy subjects using a double-blind crossover design. We further explored the neural underpinnings of induced changes by performing resting-state fMRI prior to and immediately after each stimulation session with the main focus on the interaction between a task-positive FPN and a task-negative default mode network (DMN). Twenty minutes of 2 mA anodal tDCS was superior to sham stimulation in terms of cognitive speed manipulation of a subtask with processing of objects and tools in unconventional views (i.e., the higher cognitive load subtask of the offline WMT). This result was linked to the magnitude of resting-state functional connectivity decreases between the stimulated FPN seed and DMN seeds. We provide the first evidence for the action reappraisal mechanism of object and tool processing. Modulation of cognitive speed of the task by tDCS was reflected by FPN-DMN cross-talk changes.

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High‐definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the parietal cortices modulates the neural dynamics underlying verbal working memory

Arif,

Song,

Springer

et al. 2024

Human Brain Mapping

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Verbal working memory (vWM) is an essential limited‐capacity cognitive system that spans the fronto‐parietal network and utilizes the subprocesses of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. With the recent widespread use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, multiple recent studies have examined whether such stimulation may enhance cognitive abilities such as vWM, but the findings to date remain unclear in terms of both behavior and critical brain regions. In the current study, we applied high‐definition direct current stimulation to the left and right parietal cortices of 39 healthy adults in three separate sessions (left anodal, right anodal, and sham). Following stimulation, participants completed a vWM task during high‐density magnetoencephalography (MEG). Significant neural responses at the sensor‐level were imaged using a beamformer and whole‐brain ANOVAs were used to identify the specific neuromodulatory effects of the stimulation conditions on neural responses serving distinct phases of vWM. We found that right stimulation had a faciliatory effect relative to left stimulation and sham on theta oscillations during encoding in the right inferior frontal, while the opposite pattern was observed for left supramarginal regions. Stimulation also had a faciliatory effect on theta in occipital regions and alpha in temporal regions regardless of the laterality of stimulation. In summary, our data suggest that parietal HD‐tDCS both facilitates and interferes with neural responses underlying both the encoding and maintenance phases of vWM. Future studies are warranted to determine whether specific tDCS parameters can be tuned to accentuate the facilitation responses and attenuate the interfering aspects.

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The effects of offline and online prefrontal vs parietal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on verbal and spatial working memory

Cited by 22 publications

References 67 publications

Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Improves Spatial Working Memory in Healthy Young Adults

Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Improves Spatial Working Memory in Healthy Young Adults

Modulation of Working Memory and Resting-State fMRI by tDCS of the Right Frontoparietal Network

High‐definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the parietal cortices modulates the neural dynamics underlying verbal working memory

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