Individual differences and long-term consequences of tdcs-augmented cognitive training
Open accessAbstract
A great deal of interest surrounds the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to augment cognitive training. However, effects are inconsistent across studies, and meta-analytic evidence is mixed, especially for healthy, young adults. One major source of this inconsistency is individual differences among the participants, but these differences are rarely examined in the context of combined training/stimulation studies. In addition, it is unclear how long the effects of stimulation last, even in successful interventions. Some studies make use of follow-up assessments, but very few have measured performance more than a few months after an intervention. Here, we utilized data from a previous study of tDCS and cognitive training [Au, J., Katz, B., Buschkuehl, M., Bunarjo, K., Senger, T., Zabel, C., et al. Enhancing working memory training with transcranial direct current stimulation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28, 1419–1432, 2016] in which participants trained on a working memory task over 7 days while receiving active or sham tDCS. A new, longer-term follow-up to assess later performance was conducted, and additional participants were added so that the sham condition was better powered. We assessed baseline cognitive ability, gender, training site, and motivation level and found significant interactions between both baseline ability and motivation with condition (active or sham) in models predicting training gain. In addition, the improvements in the active condition versus sham condition appear to be stable even as long as a year after the original intervention.
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Cognitive training effects with tDCS in other disorders and healthy subjects have been shown to last up to 6 months and even 1 year.
“Cognitive training effects with tDCS in other disorders and healthy subjects have been shown to last up to 6 months (Boggio et al., 2012; Kuo et al., 2014) and even 1 year (Katz et al., 2017).”
From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Katz et al., 2017
In healthy volunteers, up to 1 year longer-term cognitive effects have been observed of tDCS-augmented cognitive training.
“In healthy volunteers, up to 1 year longer-term cognitive effects have been observed of tDCS-augmented cognitive training (Katz et al., 2017).”
From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Katz et al., 2017
Combining tDCS with cognitive training has demonstrated additive effects on cognitive and functional abilities in younger and older adults.
“Combining tDCS with cognitive training has demonstrated additive effects on cognitive and functional abilities in younger [30–32] and older adults [33–36].”
From Primary outcome from the augmenting cognitive training in older adults study (ACT): A tDCS and cognitive training randomized clinical trial (2023) · cites this paper as [31]
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Rubia, K. (2018) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00100 · Cited by 384 · see citing works
“In healthy volunteers, up to 1 year longer-term cognitive effects have been observed of tDCS-augmented cognitive training (Katz et al., 2017).”
BackgroundAugmentation of working memory training by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
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- Authors
- Katz, B., Au, J., Buschkuehl, M., Abagis, T., Zabel, C., Jaeggi, S. M., & Jonides, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- MIND Research Institute (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- MIT Press - Journals
- Published
- 2017-09-01
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1498-1508
- ISSN
- 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1530-8898
- OpenAlex
- W2592166659
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 5.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
- Keywords
- transcranial direct current stimulation, cognitive training, working memory training, individual differences, motivation, long-term effects, sham stimulation, training facilities, gender differences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Cognition, Female, Humans, Individuality, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Motivation, Neuropsychological Tests, Photic Stimulation, Regression Analysis, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
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