Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over Posterior Parietal Cortex enhances distinct aspects of Visual Working Memory

Heinen, Klaartje; Sagliano, Laura; Candini, Michela; Husain, Masud; Cappelletti, Marinella and Zokaei, Nahid. 2016. Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over Posterior Parietal Cortex enhances distinct aspects of Visual Working Memory. Neuropsychologia, 87, pp. 35-42. ISSN 0028-3932 [Article]

[img]
Preview
Text
HeinenEtAl_tDCS_WM_Neuropsychologia2016.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.

Download (1MB) | Preview
[img]
Preview
Text
1-s2.0-S0028393216301440-main.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract or Description

In this study, we investigated the effects of tDCS over the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) during a visual working memory (WM) task, which probes different sources of response error underlying the precision of WM recall. In two separate experiments, we demonstrated that tDCS enhanced WM precision when applied bilaterally over the PPC, independent of electrode configuration. In a third experiment, we demonstrated with unilateral electrode configuration over the right PPC, that only cathodal tDCS enhanced WM precision and only when baseline performance was low. Looking at the effects on underlying sources of error, we found that cathodal stimulation enhanced the probability of correct target response across all participants by reducing feature-misbinding. Only for low-baseline performers, cathodal stimulation also reduced variability of recall. We conclude that cathodal- but not anodal tDCS can improve WM precision by preventing feature-misbinding and hereby enhancing attentional selection. For low-baseline performers, cathodal tDCS also protects the memory trace. Furthermore, stimulation over bilateral PPC is more potent than unilateral cathodal tDCS in enhancing general WM precision.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.04.028

Keywords:

Transcranial direct current stimulation, Parietal cortex, Polarity, Visual working memory, Precision, Error source

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology > Cognitive Neuroscience Unit
Psychology

Dates:

DateEvent
1 July 2016Published
30 April 2016Published Online
29 April 2016Accepted

Item ID:

23622

Date Deposited:

06 Jul 2018 13:45

Last Modified:

29 Apr 2020 16:46

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/23622

View statistics for this item...

Edit Record Edit Record (login required)