Transcranial direct current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulates auditory mismatch...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Auditory Perception

Background:

• The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a role in cognitive functions.
• Auditory stimulus discrimination involves both attentive and pre-attentive processes.
• Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3 event-related potentials are used to study auditory discrimination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the left DLPFC's contribution to attentive and pre-attentive auditory stimulus discrimination.
• To examine the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on MMN and P3 components.

Main Methods:

• Anodal and cathodal tDCS were applied to the left DLPFC.
• MMN amplitudes for duration, intensity, and frequency deviants were recorded.
• Novelty- and target-P3 potentials were measured before and after tDCS.

Main Results:

• MMN amplitudes decreased after tDCS for all deviant types.
• Anodal tDCS led to a stronger MMN reduction for duration and intensity deviants compared to sham stimulation.
• Neither novelty-P3 nor target-P3 showed modulation by tDCS.

Conclusions:

• Left DLPFC stimulation selectively impacts pre-attentive auditory processing.
• Anodal tDCS reducing MMN suggests DLPFC involvement in inhibiting auditory change processing or modulating habituation.
• Findings highlight the role of frontal regions in MMN generation.