• J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Apr 2020

    Clinical Trial

    Multi-Session Anodal Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation does not Improve Executive Functions among Older Adults.

    • Junhong Yu, Charlene L M Lam, Idy S C Man, Robin Shao, and LeeTatia M CTMCThe State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.Institute of Clinical Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong .
    • The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
    • J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2020 Apr 1; 26 (4): 372-381.

    ObjectiveFindings from single-session online studies highlighted the potential of using anodal prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to enhance executive functions (EF) in the context of aging. However, tDCS must be executed as a multi-session offline intervention to ascertain its viability in this context. Relatedly, findings from multi-session studies remained inconclusive. To this end, we examined the effects of multi-session anodal prefrontal tDCS on EF in an intervention.MethodThe intervention consisted of 15 sessions; in each, healthy older participants (Agemean = 66.7) received either 15 min of 1.5 mA tDCS (Ncompleted = 35) or sham stimulation (Ncompleted = 33) while performing EF training tasks. EF measures were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up. Hierarchical linear models were used to examine the effect of tDCS on EF outcomes.ResultsBoth groups of participants did not differ significantly in side effect ratings and attendance. There were no significant tDCS-associated gains in any EF outcomes in the intervention.ConclusionsMulti-session prefrontal tDCS did not lead to any significant gains in EF in the current intervention. More research is needed to optimize the use of tDCS before it can be effectively used to enhance EF among older adults.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…