Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of transcranial direct current stimulation of the parietal cortex in a visuo-spatial working memory task

摘要: Impairments of working memory (WM) performance are frequent concomitant symptoms in several psychiatric and neurologic diseases. Despite the great advance treating reduced WM abilities patients suffering from, e.g., Parkinson’s Alzheimer’s disease by means transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), exact neurophysiological underpinning subserving these therapeutic tDCS-effects still unknown. In present study we investigated impact tDCS on a visuo-spatial task its underlying neural activity. three experimental sessions, participants performed delayed matching-to-sample after sham, anodal, cathodal over right parietal cortex. The results showed that modulated electrophysiological brain activity polarity-specific way. Parietal altered event-related potentials oscillatory power alpha band at posterior electrode sites. demonstrates can alter modulating This result be considered an important step toward better understanding mechanisms involved tDCS-induced modulations cognitive processing. is particular importance for application electrical as treatment neuropsychiatric deficits clinical populations.