Cognitive function assessment during 2 mA transcranial direct current stimulation in DLPFC in healthy volunteers

• Published in: Physiological reports Vol. 7; no. 20; pp. e14264 - n/a
• Main Authors: Bashir, Shahid, Al‐Hussain, Fawaz, Hamza, Ali, Asim Niaz, Talha, Albaradie, Raidah, Habib, Syed S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Age; Brain research; Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience; Central Nervous System; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience; Consent; Electrical stimulation of the brain; Electrodes; ESB; Internet; Memory; Original Research; Pattern recognition; Physiology; Prefrontal cortex; safety; Software; Statistical analysis; stop signal task; Studies; transcranial direct current stimulation; stop signal task; Memory; safety; transcranial direct current stimulation
• ISSN: 2051-817X; 2051-817X
• DOI: 10.14814/phy2.14264

Although cognitive function has been reported to change following the anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) but still variable results have been reported in healthy subject and there is paucity of data on the cognitive effects of online tDCS. Therefore, we aimed to assess the online effect of tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on cognitive function and obtain safety data in healthy adults. We recruited 36 healthy (20 male) participants for this double‐blind, sham‐controlled parallel design. We used Stop Signal Task (SST) Go Trial and Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM) tests to evaluate cognitive function during 2 mA (20 min) anodal or sham tDCS stimulation over the left DLPFC. In active conditions, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was selected for electrode placement with reference over right supraorbital cortex. All related tasks were done during the online tDCS section in both groups (active/sham). There were statistically significant differences in cognitive function according to the PRM test (P = 0.003), SST (P = 0.021), and SST correct response time on Go Trials (P = 0.02) during active stimulation compared to the sham group. Our results reveal that cognitive performance is affected by a single dose of active online tDCS over DLPFC area compared to sham stimulation. In our study, tDCS is well‐tolerated and safe that further supports the safety of tDCS in local healthy population. Little is known about the online effects of tDCS on cognition in healthy humans. Data showed that cognitive performance would only increase during online real stimulation as compared to sham stimulation. The safety and tolerability aspects of online 2mA tDCS to local population?