title: Single-session transcranial direct current stimulation induces enduring enhancement of visual processing speed in patients with major depression.
abstract: Attentional deficits are considered key cognitive symptoms in major depressive disorder (MDD) arising from abnormal activation patterns within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) alertness networks. Altering these activity patterns with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might thus ameliorate alertness-dependent cognitive deficits in MDD patients. In a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled study, we investigated the effect of a single session of anodal tDCS (2 mA) applied to the left dlPFC on different parameters of visual attention based on Bundesen's theory of visual attention (Psychol Rev 97(4):523-547, 1990) in a group of 20 patients with MDD and a control group of 20 healthy participants. The parametric attention assessment took place before, immediately after and 24 h after tDCS intervention. It revealed a selective impairment in visual processing speed as a primary functional deficit in MDD at baseline assessment. Furthermore, a significant stimulation condition × time point interaction showed that verum tDCS over the left dlPFC resulted in a processing speed enhancement 24 h post-stimulation in MDD patients. In healthy control participants, we did not find similar tDCS-induced effects. Our results suggest that even a single session of tDCS over the dlPFC can induce enduring neurocognitive benefits that indicate an amelioration of cortical under-arousal in MDD patients in a time frame beyond that of immediate, excitability increases that are directly induced by the current.
authors.affiliation: General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802, Munich, Germany. nadine.goegler@psy.lmu.de.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gögler
authors.affiliation: General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Willacker
authors.affiliation: General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Funk
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Nußbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Strube
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Nußbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Langgartner
authors.affiliation: General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Natan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Napiórkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Nußbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Alkomiet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802, Munich, Germany.|Hans-Berger-Department of Neurology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Am Klinikum 1, 07743, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Finke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Major depressive disorder; Theory of visual attention (TVA); Transcranial direct current stimulation; Visual processing speed