Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
13:35
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Simultaneous Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: April 27, 2014
21.8K
Improving mentalizing deficits in older age with region-specific transcranial direct current stimulation
Alexander Lischke1,2, Rike Pahnke3, Anna Mäder4
1Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaierkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany. alexander.lischke@medicalschool-hamburg.de.
Geroscience
|June 15, 2024
Summary
Older adults show declines in mentalizing, the ability to understand others' thoughts and feelings. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) improved this ability in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Aging is associated with a decline in socio-cognitive abilities, specifically mentalizing.
- Deficits in mental state recognition are linked to neurofunctional changes in brain regions like the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) and dorso-medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if focal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the rTPJ and dmPFC can ameliorate age-related mentalizing deficits in older adults.
- To assess the region-specific effects of tDCS on mental state recognition.
Main Methods:
- A novel mindreading task involving recognition of mental states in child faces was used to assess mentalizing deficits.
- Sixty older adults and thirty younger adults participated. Older adults received sham-controlled anodal tDCS over either the rTPJ or dmPFC.
Main Results:
- Older adults performed significantly worse than younger adults on the mindreading task, confirming age-dependent deficits.
- Anodal tDCS over the rTPJ significantly ameliorated mentalizing deficits in older adults.
- tDCS over the dmPFC did not show significant effects on mentalizing deficits.
Conclusions:
- Anodal tDCS over the rTPJ can effectively remediate age-dependent mentalizing deficits in a region-specific manner.
- These findings suggest tDCS as a potential intervention for enhancing socio-cognitive abilities in older age.
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