title: Long-term enhancement of brain function and cognition using cognitive training and brain stimulation.
abstract: Noninvasive brain stimulation has shown considerable promise for enhancing cognitive functions by the long-term manipulation of neuroplasticity. However, the observation of such improvements has been focused at the behavioral level, and enhancements largely restricted to the performance of basic tasks. Here, we investigate whether transcranial random noise stimulation (TRNS) can improve learning and subsequent performance on complex arithmetic tasks. TRNS of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a key area in arithmetic, was uniquely coupled with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure online hemodynamic responses within the prefrontal cortex. Five consecutive days of TRNS-accompanied cognitive training enhanced the speed of both calculation- and memory-recall-based arithmetic learning. These behavioral improvements were associated with defined hemodynamic responses consistent with more efficient neurovascular coupling within the left DLPFC. Testing 6 months after training revealed long-lasting behavioral and physiological modifications in the stimulated group relative to sham controls for trained and nontrained calculation material. These results demonstrate that, depending on the learning regime, TRNS can induce long-term enhancement of cognitive and brain functions. Such findings have significant implications for basic and translational neuroscience, highlighting TRNS as a viable approach to enhancing learning and high-level cognition by the long-term modulation of neuroplasticity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Snowball
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tachtsidis
authors.forename: Tudor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Margarete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delazer
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zamarian
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Roi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen Kadosh
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009622:Noise; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D055815:Young Adult