Practice improves older adults’ attentional control and prospective memory more than HD-tDCS: a randomized controlled trial

Frontal and parietal brain regions are involved in attentional control and prospective memory. It is debated, however, whether increased or decreased activity in those regions is beneficial for older adults’ task performance. We therefore aimed to systematically modulate activity in those regions us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2024-10, Vol.14 (1), p.22985-13, Article 22985
Main Authors: Schmidt, Nadine, Menéndez-Granda, Marta, Münger, Ronya, Hatzipanayioti, Adamantini, Kliegel, Matthias, Orth, Michael, Peter, Jessica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378
631/477
Aged
Ageing
Attention - physiology
Brain-heart axis
Cognitive control
Delayed intentions
Double-Blind Method
Electrical stimulation of the brain
ESB
Female
Frontal lobe
Frontal Lobe - physiology
Heart
Heart Rate - physiology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Laboratories
Male
Memory, Episodic
Mental task performance
Middle Aged
multidisciplinary
Non-invasive brain stimulation
Older people
Parietal lobe
Parietal Lobe - physiology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation - methods
Vagus nerve
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Summary:Frontal and parietal brain regions are involved in attentional control and prospective memory. It is debated, however, whether increased or decreased activity in those regions is beneficial for older adults’ task performance. We therefore aimed to systematically modulate activity in those regions using high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation. We included n  = 106 healthy adults (60–75 years old, 58% female) in a randomized, double-blind, and sham-controlled study. We evaluated task performance twice in the laboratory and at home and additionally assessed heart rates. Participants received cathodal, anodal, or sham stimulation of the left or right inferior frontal lobe, or the right superior parietal lobe (1 mA for 20 min). Performance improved at visit two in laboratory tasks but declined in at-home tasks. Stimulation did not modulate performance change in laboratory tasks but prevented decline in at home-tasks. Heart rates increased at visit two but only when right inferior frontal lobe activity was inhibited. Repeating a task seems more beneficial than stimulation for laboratory tasks. This might be different for at-home tasks. Inhibiting right frontal brain function increases heart rates, possibly due to a modulation of the frontal-vagal brain-heart axis.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-74029-9