1. Transcranial direct current stimulation based metaplasticity protocols in working memory.
- Author
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Carvalho S, Boggio PS, Gonçalves ÓF, Vigário AR, Faria M, Silva S, Gaudencio do Rego G, Fregni F, and Leite J
- Subjects
- Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Time Factors, Young Adult, Memory, Short-Term physiology, Neuronal Plasticity physiology, Prefrontal Cortex physiology, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
- Abstract
Background: It has been already shown that delivering tDCS that are spaced by an interval alters its impact on motor plasticity. These effects can be explained, based on metaplasticity in which a previous modification of activity in a neuronal network can change the effects of subsequent interventions in the same network. But to date there is limited data assessing metaplasticity effects in cognitive functioning., Objectives: The aim of this study was to test several tDCS-based metaplasticity protocols in working memory (WM), by studying the impact of various interstimulation intervals in the performance of a 3-back task., Methods: Fifteen healthy volunteers per experiment participated in this study. Experiments 1 and 2 tested an anodal tDCS-induced metaplasticity protocol (1 mA, 10 + 10') with 3 interstimulation intervals (10, 30, and 60 min). Experiment 3 determined the effects of a similar protocol-with a 10-min interval between two sessions of cathodal tDCS or anodal plus cathodal tDCS (1 mA, 10 + 10')., Results: Two consecutive sessions of anodal tDCS delivered with a 10 min interval between them did not improve WM performance (P = .095). This effect remained the same if the interval was increased to 30 or 60 min. In contrast, when a 10 min interval was given between two consecutive cathodal tDCS sessions, performance in the 3 back task increased (P = .042)., Conclusions: These results suggest that the polarity effects of tDCS on working memory are dependent on the previous level of activity of the recruited neural population., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2015
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