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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement
10:37

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement

Published on: September 18, 2021

Improved multitasking following prefrontal tDCS.

Hannah L Filmer1, Jason B Mattingley, Paul E Dux

  • 1School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Australia.

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior
|October 2, 2013
PubMed
Summary

The brain

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Human multitasking ability is limited by a central processing bottleneck.
  • Previous research localized this bottleneck to the left posterior lateral prefrontal cortex (pLPFC).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the causal role of the left pLPFC in multitasking.
  • To determine if inhibiting the left pLPFC affects dual-task performance.

Main Methods:

  • Used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate left pLPFC activity.
  • Employed a behavioral paradigm with single- and dual-task trials involving visual and auditory stimuli.
  • Compared reaction times before, immediately after, and 20 minutes after anodal, cathodal, or sham stimulation.

Main Results:

Keywords:
BottleneckMultitaskingPosterior lateral prefrontal cortexResponse selectionTranscranial direct current stimulation

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  • Cathodal (inhibitory) stimulation of the left pLPFC significantly reduced the performance cost in dual-task trials.
  • Anodal (excitatory) and sham stimulation did not affect dual-task costs.
  • This suggests inhibitory neuromodulation of the pLPFC enhances multitasking.

Conclusions:

  • The left posterior lateral prefrontal cortex (pLPFC) is causally involved in the central bottleneck limiting simultaneous decision-making.
  • Inhibiting the left pLPFC can improve multitasking performance.
  • These findings provide crucial insights into the neural basis of cognitive control and multitasking limitations.