Cited by 21Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation StudiesNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesCognitive Abilities and Testing

RETRACTED: l-Tyrosine administration modulates the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on working memory in healthy humans

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Jongkees, Bryant J., Sellaro, Roberta, Beste, Christian, Nitsche, Michael A., Kühn, Simone, Colzato, Lorenza S.·2017·Cortex

Abstract

Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an increasingly popular method of modulating cognitive functions in humans. However, some doubt its efficacy as findings are inconsistent or remain unreplicated. It is speculated dopamine (DA) might play an important role in this inconsistency, by determining the direction and strength of the cognitive-behavioral effects of tDCS. However, so far evidence for this hypothesis has been correlational in nature, precluding definitive conclusions.Objective The present proof-of-principle study aimed at investigating a potentially causal role for DA in the effect of tDCS on cognition in healthy humans.Methods In Experiment 1 we aimed to replicate previous findings showing administration of DA's precursor l-Tyrosine (Tyr), presumably by inducing a modest increase in DA level, can enhance working memory (WM) performance as assessed with a verbal N-back task. In Experiment 2 we investigated the effect of Tyr administration on bilateral tDCS over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and WM.Results Experiment 1 showed Tyr administration enhances performance in a verbal N-back task. Experiment 2 showed Tyr modulates the effect of bilateral tDCS over DLPFC on WM. Specifically, tDCS had opposite effects on performance depending on current direction through the brain and Tyr administration.Conclusions The present study provides two major findings. First, we replicate Tyr's beneficial effect on verbal WM. Second, our results indicate a causal role for DA in the effect of tDCS on cognition. For this reason, we encourage future studies to consider the modulating effect of DA, as a step towards more consistent and replicable results regarding the efficacy of tDCS.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.02.014This paper is marked retracted.

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  • L-tyrosine can reverse stress-induced impairment in working memory performance and enhance performance without an external stressor when working memory load is sufficiently high.

    “A broad literature has shown that L-tyrosine can reverse stress-induced impairment in WM performance (Jongkees et al., 2015), as well as enhancing performance without an external stressor when WM load is sufficiently high (Colzato et al., 2013; Jongkees et al., 2017; Thomas, Lockwood, Singh, & Deuster, 1999).”

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  1. Egan, M. F., Goldberg, T. E., Kolachana, B. S., Callicott, J. H., Mazzanti, C. M., Straub, R. E., … Weinberger, D. R. (2001). Effect of COMT Val108/158Met genotype on frontal lobe function and risk for schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(12), 6917-6922.
  2. Mattay, V. S., Goldberg, T. E., Fera, F., Hariri, A. R., Tessitore, A., Egan, M. F., … Weinberger, D. R. (2003). Catechol O-methyltransferase val158-met genotype and individual variation in the brain response to amphetamine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100(10), 6186-6191.

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Authors
Jongkees, B. J., Sellaro, R., Beste, C., Nitsche, M. A., Kühn, S., & Colzato, L. S.
Affiliations
  • Leiden University (NL)
  • Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
  • BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil Bochum (DE)
  • University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
  • University of Kassel (DE)
Corresponding author
Jongkees, Bryant J.
Venue
Cortex
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-05
Volume
90
Pages
103-114
ISSN
0010-9452 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2591615181
Cited by
21
References
85
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2016: 1
FWCI
1.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Status
Retracted
Open access
Locations
  • Cortex (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (#452-12-001)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Keywords
transcranial direct current stimulation, tyrosine, dopamine, working memory, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, current direction, cognitive enhancement, retraction
MeSH terms
Adult, Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time, Tyrosine, Prefrontal Cortex, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

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