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Modulating verbal working memory with fronto-parietal transcranial electric stimulation at theta frequency: Does it
Anna Lena Biel1,2, Elisabeth Sterner1, Lukas Röll1
1Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, Munich, 80802, Germany.
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|December 13, 2021
Summary
Frontoparietal theta transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) did not affect working memory response times in a simple task. However, in-phase tACS improved performance on a more demanding 3-back task.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neurostimulation
Background:
- Oscillatory theta activity in the fronto-parietal network is linked to working memory (WM) performance.
- Previous studies using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) reported a 'synchronization-desynchronization' effect on WM response times, but replication has been inconsistent.
- Electric field modeling suggests potential limitations in targeting the fronto-parietal network with certain tACS configurations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reproduce the findings of Polanía et al. (2012) regarding fronto-parietal theta tACS and WM performance.
- To investigate if focal in-phase theta tACS with multiple return electrodes enhances WM performance compared to previous methods.
- To explore the effects of tACS on the distribution (mean, variation, skewness) of response times in WM tasks.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments (between- and within-subjects) using a delayed letter discrimination task and fronto-parietal theta tACS.
- A modified 3-back task with fronto-parietal in-phase and focal in-phase theta tACS.
- Single-trial distributional analysis of response times.
Main Results:
- No significant 'synchronization-desynchronization' effect on response times was observed in the delayed letter discrimination task.
- Frontoparietal in-phase and focal in-phase theta tACS substantially improved performance on the more demanding 3-back task compared to placebo.
- Task difficulty appears to be a critical factor in observing the effects of theta tACS on WM.
Conclusions:
- The 'synchronization-desynchronization' effect on WM response times may not be consistently replicable with standard fronto-parietal theta tACS.
- Focal in-phase theta tACS can enhance cognitive performance in more demanding working memory tasks.
- Future research should consider task difficulty and precise stimulation targeting when investigating tACS effects on working memory.
