Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) on Cognitive-Motor Dual Control Skills

This randomized crossover study investigated whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefontal cortex (dlPFC) modulates memory-guided finger isometric maintenance during single motor and dual cognitive-motor tasks, based on electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Twenty-three healthy participants (14 female; M age = 29.130 years, SD = 10.918) underwent both sham and 2-mA stimulation sessions over the dlPFC for 20 minutes, with a minimum washout period of seven days. We analyzed finger-force isometric maintenance and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) of the EEG during early and later phases of both tasks. We observed a significant motor accuracy improvement ( p = .014) and significant variation of force output ( p = .027) with significant decrease in ERSP on the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) (early phase, p = .027; later phase, p = .023) only after 2 mA stimulation. Thus, anodal tDCS over the dlPFC may improve memory-guided force control during cognitive-motor dual tasks.