title: Frontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) abolishes list-method directed forgetting.
abstract: It is a point of controversy as to whether directed forgetting effects are a result of active inhibition or a change of context initiated by the instruction to forget. In this study we test the causal role of active inhibition in directed forgetting. By applying cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right prefrontal cortex we suppressed cortical activity commonly associated with inhibitory control. Participants who underwent real brain stimulation before completing the directed forgetting paradigm showed no directed forgetting effects. Conversely, those who underwent sham brain stimulation demonstrated classical directed forgetting effects. We argue that these findings suggest that inhibition is the primary mechanism that results in directed forgetting costs and benefits.
authors.affiliation: University of Roehampton, United Kingdom. Electronic address: j.silas@roehampton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silas
authors.affiliation: University of Roehampton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Karen R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Brandt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Directed forgetting; Frontal cortex; Inhibition; Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)