title: The (non-)replicability of regulatory resource depletion: A field report employing non-invasive brain stimulation.
abstract: Cognitive effort and self-control are exhausting. Although evidence is ambiguous, behavioural studies have repeatedly suggested that control-demanding tasks seem to deplete a limited cache of self-regulatory resources leading to performance degradations and fatigue. While resource depletion has indirectly been associated with a decline in right prefrontal cortex capacity, its precise neural underpinnings have not yet been revealed. This study consisted of two independent experiments, which set out to investigate the causal role of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in a classic dual phase depletion paradigm employing non-invasive brain stimulation. In Experiment 1 we demonstrated a general depletion effect, which was significantly eliminated by anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to the right DLPFC. In Experiment 2, however, we failed to replicate the basic psychological depletion effect within a second independent sample. The dissimilar results are discussed in the context of the current 'replication crisis' and suggestions for future studies are offered. While our current results do not allow us to firmly argue for or against the existence of resource depletion, we outline why it is crucial to further clarify which specific external and internal circumstances lead to limited replicability of the described effect. We showcase and discuss the current inter-lab replication problem based on two independent samples tested within one research group (intra-lab).
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7350-7473
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Emmerling
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Carolien
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martijn
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hugo J E M
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Alberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alix C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Bastian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: David
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schuhmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alexander T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Sack
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult