The Effects of Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Working Memory

The aim of this paper was to review the effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tdcs) on working memory in healthy population. Ten studies were identified involving 319 subjects. Working memory performance was measured using cognitive tasks such as the n-back task, digit span forward or digit span backwards test, Sternberg WM task, the Pacet Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and the Pacet Auditory Serial Subtraction Task (PASST), verbal and visuospatial tasks and the Operation Span (OSpan) task. All studies showed that anodal tdcs co-administered with cognitive tasks can significantly enhance working memory performance by inducing cortical excitability. Further research should be made towards older population as aging is accompanied with a decline in cognitive abilities and patients with memory deficits to demonstrate whether tdcs can be used as an interventional mean in clinical context as well.