Dataset Information

Keep calm and carry on: improved frustration tolerance and processing speed by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

ABSTRACT: Cognitive control (CC) of attention is a major prerequisite for effective information processing. Emotional distractors can bias and impair goal-directed deployment of attentional resources. Frustration-induced negative affect and cognition can act as internal distractors with negative impact on task performance. Consolidation of CC may thus support task-oriented behavior under challenging conditions. Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been put forward as an effective tool to modulate CC. Particularly, anodal, activity enhancing tDCS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) can increase insufficient CC in depression as indicated by a reduction of attentional biases induced by emotionally salient stimuli. With this study, we provide first evidence that, compared to sham stimulation, tDCS to the left dlPFC enhances processing speed measured by an adaptive version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) that is typically thwarted by frustration. Notably, despite an even larger amount of error-related negative feedback, the task-induced upset was suppressed in the group receiving anodal tDCS. Moreover, inhibition of task-related negative affect was correlated with performance gains, suggesting a close link between enhanced processing speed and consolidation of CC by tDCS. Together, these data provide first evidence that activity enhancing anodal tDCS to the left dlPFC can support focused cognitive processing particularly when challenged by frustration-induced negative affect.

SUBMITTER: Plewnia C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4383541 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Keep calm and carry on: improved frustration tolerance and processing speed by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Plewnia Christian C Schroeder Philipp A PA Kunze Roland R Faehling Florian F Wolkenstein Larissa L

PloS one 20150402 4

Cognitive control (CC) of attention is a major prerequisite for effective information processing. Emotional distractors can bias and impair goal-directed deployment of attentional resources. Frustration-induced negative affect and cognition can act as internal distractors with negative impact on task performance. Consolidation of CC may thus support task-oriented behavior under challenging conditions. Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been put forward as an effective t ...[more]

PMID: 25837520

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Project description:Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; DSM-V 309.82) and anxiety disorders (DSM-V 300.xx) are widely spread mental disorders, the effectiveness of their therapy is still unsatisfying. Non-invasive brain-stimulation techniques like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might be an option to improve extinction learning, which is a main functional factor of exposure-based therapy for anxiety disorders. To examine this hypothesis, we used a fear conditioning paradigm with female faces as conditioned stimuli (CS) and a 95-dB female scream as unconditioned stimulus (UCS). We aimed to perform a tDCS of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which is mainly involved in the control of extinction-processes. Therefore, we applied two 4 × 4 cm electrodes approximately at the EEG-positions F7 and F8 and used a direct current of 1.5 mA. The 20-min stimulation was started during a 10-min break between acquisition and extinction and went on overall extinction-trials. The healthy participants were randomly assigned in two double-blinded process into two sham stimulation and two verum stimulation groups with opposite current flow directions. To measure the fear reactions, we used skin conductance responses (SCR) and subjective ratings. We performed a generalized estimating equations model for the SCR to assess the impact of tDCS and current flow direction on extinction processes for all subjects that showed a successful conditioning (N = 84). The results indicate that tDCS accelerates early extinction processes with a significantly faster loss of CS+/CS- discrimination. The discrimination loss was driven by a significant decrease in reaction toward the CS+ as well as an increase in reaction toward the CS- in the tDCS verum groups, whereas the sham groups showed no significant reaction changes during this period. Therefore, we assume that tDCS of the vmPFC can be used to enhance early extinction processes successfully. But before it should be tested in a clinical context further investigation is needed to assess the reason for the reaction increase on CS-. If this negative side effect can be avoided, tDCS may be a tool to improve exposure-based anxiety therapies.

Dataset Information

Keep calm and carry on: improved frustration tolerance and processing speed by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Publications

Keep calm and carry on: improved frustration tolerance and processing speed by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

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