title: The strategy and motivational influences on the beneficial effect of neurostimulation: a tDCS and fNIRS study.
abstract: Working memory (WM) capacity falls along a spectrum with some people demonstrating higher and others lower WM capacity. Efforts to improve WM include applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in which small amounts of current modulate the activity of underlying neurons and enhance cognitive function. However, not everyone benefits equally from a given tDCS protocol. Recent findings revealed tDCS-related WM benefits for individuals with higher working memory (WM) capacity. Here, we test two hypotheses regarding those with low WM capacity to see if they too would benefit under more optimal conditions. We tested whether supplying a WM strategy (Experiment 1) or providing greater extrinsic motivation through incentives (Experiment 2) would restore tDCS benefit to the low WM capacity group. We also employed functional near infrared spectroscopy to monitor tDCS-induced changes in neural activity. Experiment 1 demonstrated that supplying a WM strategy improved the high WM capacity participants' accuracy and the amount of oxygenated blood levels following anodal tDCS, but it did not restore tDCS-linked WM benefits to the low WM capacity group. Experiment 2 demonstrated that financial motivation enhanced performance in both low and high WM capacity groups, especially after anodal tDCS. Here, only the low WM capacity participants showed a generalized increase in oxygenated blood flow across both low and high motivation conditions. These results indicate that ensuring that participants' incentives are high may expand cognitive benefits associated with tDCS. This finding is relevant for translational work using tDCS in clinical populations, in which motivation can be a concern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, NV 89557, USA; Department of Neurology, Center for Aphasia Research and Rehabilitation, Georgetown University Medical Center, 4000 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, D.C. 20057, USA. Electronic address: kevjones22@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kevin T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, NV 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gözenman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, NV 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Marian E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Berryhill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Functional near infrared spectroscopy; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Working memory; Working memory capacity