Transcranial Direct Current Electrical Stimulation Modulates the Feedback-Related Negativity Component in a Monetary Game

• Published in: Neuroscience and behavioral physiology 2023-03, Vol.53 (3), p.345-352
• Main Authors: Gorin, A. A., Klyuchnikov, V. A., Dutov, I. I., Moiseeva, V. V., Klyucharev, V. A., Shestakova, A. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Decision making; Electrical stimulation of the brain; Electrical stimuli; Electroencephalography; ESB; Expected values; Feedback; Games; Magnetic resonance imaging; Monetary incentives; Neural networks; Neurobiology; Neurosciences; Prefrontal cortex; Signal processing
• ISSN: 0097-0549; 1573-899X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11055-023-01432-6

The present study addressed the neurophysiological effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on a component of evoked potentials termed “feedback-related negativity” (FRN). Subjects completed a delayed monetary reinforcement task in which they tried to avoid monetary losses of various sizes. We compared the amplitudes of FRN in responses to information about monetary loss in the control group with those in a group undergoing cathodic stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Published data led us to hypothesize that cathodic tDCS would suppress the amplitude of the FRN component. Contrary to this hypothesis, however, the amplitude of the component in the stimulation group was significantly greater than that in the control group. These results provide additional evidence for the amplifying effect of the cathodic tDCS and lead to the suggestion that the neural networks involved in signal generation during processing of monetary loss differ from those in games not associated with a monetary reward.