Effects of different types of high-definition transcranial electrical stimulation on visual working memory and contralateral delayed activity.
Yinan Ai, Mingyu Yin, Liying Zhang and 5 others
PMID 39516946WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy adults, one session of high-definition stimulation to the left prefrontal cortex improved visual working memory capacity compared to sham.
Auditory working memory and reaction times did not change, and the benefit was measured immediately after stimulation in people without cognitive impairment.
Key findings
01Visual working memory capacity (K) was significantly higher after HD-tDCS than after both HD-tRNS and sham stimulation.
02The electrophysiological marker for items held in memory (CDA amplitude) was greater after HD-tDCS than sham, and correlated with working memory capacity.
03Auditory working memory scores and visual task accuracy or reaction time did not differ between the stimulation conditions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted only on healthy young adults, so the results do not apply to patients with neurological or psychiatric conditions. Only the immediate effects of a single 20-minute session were measured; the study did not assess whether benefits accumulate or persist with repeated treatment. The device used for HD-tRNS could not adjust certain parameters (like DC offset), which may have limited its effectiveness compared to other protocols. The primary finding was a small increase in working memory capacity (approx. 0.18 units on the K scale), which may not be clinically noticeable in daily tasks.
Declared interests
The study was funded by several Chinese government research programs and university projects. The authors declared no competing interests, and the funding bodies did not design the study or write the manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this treatment will help patients with cognitive deficits. The study tested healthy adults with normal working memory, and the effect was small and immediate. It does not show that HD-tDCS improves functional communication or daily living tasks in clinical populations.