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Title
Stimulation of the dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex improves working memory and planning
Type Article
Keywords
transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), working memory (WM), planning
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate whether working memory (WM) and planning performances can be enhanced using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). A total of 30 healthy individuals were randomly assigned to two groups: active (A)-tDCS and control (S)-tDCS. Anodal stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (F3) and cathodal stimulation over the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (FP2) were further implemented at 2 mA in the A-tDCS group, while there was no intervention in the control group. The tools used were software versions of the three-level n-back task and Tower of London (TOL) task, and for each task we measured participants’ response accuracy and response time. The results showed a significant difference between the groups in both cognitive functions, suggesting that tDCS can improve response accuracy in memory and problem-solving ability, but it is less effective in terms of improving response time on planning. Overall, findings suggest that tDCS can enhance WM and planning performances.
Researchers farzaneh pouladi (First researcher) , Masood Bagheri (Second researcher) , Ghasem Askarizadeh (Third researcher) , Afsaneh Moradi (Fourth researcher)