文章基本信息

标题：Transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex modulates working memory performance: combined behavioural and electrophysiological evidence
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作者：Tino Zaehle ; Pascale Sandmann ; Jeremy D Thorne 等
期刊名称：BMC Neuroscience
印刷版ISSN：1471-2202
电子版ISSN：1471-2202
出版年度：2011
卷号：12
期号：1
页码：1
DOI：10.1186/1471-2202-12-2
语种：English
出版社：BioMed Central
摘要：Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a technique that can systematically modify behaviour by inducing changes in the underlying brain function. In order to better understand the neuromodulatory effect of tDCS, the present study examined the impact of tDCS on performance in a working memory (WM) task and its underlying neural activity. In two experimental sessions, participants performed a letter two-back WM task after sham and either anodal or cathodal tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Results Results showed that tDCS modulated WM performance by altering the underlying oscillatory brain activity in a polarity-specific way. We observed an increase in WM performance and amplified oscillatory power in the theta and alpha bands after anodal tDCS whereas cathodal tDCS interfered with WM performance and decreased oscillatory power in the theta and alpha bands under posterior electrode sides. Conclusions The present study demonstrates that tDCS can alter WM performance by modulating the underlying neural oscillations. This result can be considered an important step towards a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in tDCS-induced modulations of WM performance, which is of particular importance, given the proposal to use electrical brain stimulation for the therapeutic treatment of memory deficits in clinical settings.