TY - JOUR
T1 - A lack of timing-dependent effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the performance of a choice reaction time task
AU - Sevilla-Sanchez, Marta
AU - Hortobágyi, Tibor
AU - Carballeira, Eduardo
AU - Fogelson, Noa
AU - Fernandez-del-Olmo, Miguel
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the “Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades” of Spain by an FPU fellowship [grant numbers FPU16/01264].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/6/21
Y1 - 2022/6/21
N2 - Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can enhance the retention of a previously practiced motor skill. However, the effects of tDCS on the performance of the choice reaction time task are not fully understood. We examined the effects of anodal tDCS over the left primary motor cortex (M1) on the retention of a 4-choice visual-motor reaction time task (4-ChRT). Right-handed healthy participants (n = 100) were randomly assigned to five groups: three groups received anodal tDCS: before (tDCSbefore), during (tDCSduring), or after (tDCSafter) motor practice. In addition, there were two control groups: with (CONmp) and without (CON) motor practice. We evaluated the speed and precision of the 4-ChRT task before (PRE), during, and 24 h (POST) after the interventions. All groups, including the non-stimulation (CONmp) and non-practice groups (CON), improved (p < 0.05) motor retention (Δ4-ChRT: 35.8 ± 36.0 ms). These findings suggest that the tDCS effects over M1 may differ for serial versus choice RT tasks, perhaps due to the different brain areas involved in each motor task.
AB - Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can enhance the retention of a previously practiced motor skill. However, the effects of tDCS on the performance of the choice reaction time task are not fully understood. We examined the effects of anodal tDCS over the left primary motor cortex (M1) on the retention of a 4-choice visual-motor reaction time task (4-ChRT). Right-handed healthy participants (n = 100) were randomly assigned to five groups: three groups received anodal tDCS: before (tDCSbefore), during (tDCSduring), or after (tDCSafter) motor practice. In addition, there were two control groups: with (CONmp) and without (CON) motor practice. We evaluated the speed and precision of the 4-ChRT task before (PRE), during, and 24 h (POST) after the interventions. All groups, including the non-stimulation (CONmp) and non-practice groups (CON), improved (p < 0.05) motor retention (Δ4-ChRT: 35.8 ± 36.0 ms). These findings suggest that the tDCS effects over M1 may differ for serial versus choice RT tasks, perhaps due to the different brain areas involved in each motor task.
KW - Long-term motor learning
KW - Motor learning
KW - Motor retention
KW - Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS)
KW - Reaction time task
U2 - 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136691
DO - 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136691
M3 - Article
C2 - 35605902
AN - SCOPUS:85130611335
SN - 0304-3940
VL - 782
JO - Neuroscience Letters
JF - Neuroscience Letters
M1 - 136691
ER -