Fronto-parietal Theta High-definition Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation May Modulate Working Memory Under Postural Control Conditions in Young Healthy Adults

Overview

Journal Front Hum Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2023 Nov 29

PMID 38021229

Authors

Yanwen Xiao

Junhong Zhou

Rong Zhou

Yu Liu

Jiaojiao Lu

Lingyan Huang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objects: This study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of fronto-parietal θ HD-tACS on a dual task of working memory-postural control.

Methods: In this within-subject cross-over pilot study, we assessed the effects of 20 min of 6 Hz-tACS targeting both the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in 20 healthy adults (age: 21.6 ± 1.3 years). During each session, single- and dual-task behavioral tests (working memory single-task, static tandem standing, and a dual-task of working memory-postural control) and closed-eye resting-state EEG were assessed before and immediately after stimulation.

Results: Within the tACS group, we found a 5.3% significant decrease in working memory response time under the dual-task following tACS ( = -3.157, = 0.005, Cohen's = 0.742); phase synchronization analysis revealed a significant increase in the phase locking value (PLV) of θ band between F3 and P3 after tACS ( = 0.010, Cohen's = 0.637). Correlation analyses revealed a significant correlation between increased rs-EEG θ power in the F3 and P3 channels and faster reaction time ( = -0.515, = 0.02; = -0.483, = 0.031, respectively) in the dual-task working memory task after tACS. However, no differences were observed on either upright postural control performance or rs-EEG results (-values <0.05).

Conclusion: Fronto-parietal θ HD-tACS has the potential of being a neuromodulatory tool for improving working memory performance in dual-task situations, but its effect on the modulation of concurrently performed postural control tasks requires further investigation.

Citing Articles

Cortical activity associated with the maintenance of balance during unstable stances.

Ue S, Nakahama K, Hayashi J, Ohgomori T PeerJ. 2024; 12:e17313.

PMID: 38708344 PMC: 11067896. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17313.

References

Klirova M, Vorackova V, Horacek J, Mohr P, Jonas J, Dudysova D . Modulating Inhibitory Control Processes Using Individualized High Definition Theta Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (HD θ-tACS) of the Anterior Cingulate and Medial Prefrontal Cortex. Front Syst Neurosci. 2021; 15:611507. PMC: 8042221. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2021.611507. View

Manor B, Costa M, Hu K, Newton E, Starobinets O, Kang H . Physiological complexity and system adaptability: evidence from postural control dynamics of older adults. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2010; 109(6):1786-91. PMC: 3006415. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00390.2010. View

Vossen A, Gross J, Thut G . Alpha Power Increase After Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation at Alpha Frequency (α-tACS) Reflects Plastic Changes Rather Than Entrainment. Brain Stimul. 2015; 8(3):499-508. PMC: 4464304. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2014.12.004. View

Rizzato A, Paoli A, Andretta M, Vidorin F, Marcolin G . Are Static and Dynamic Postural Balance Assessments Two Sides of the Same Coin? A Cross-Sectional Study in the Older Adults. Front Physiol. 2021; 12:681370. PMC: 8277194. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.681370. View

Herrmann C, Rach S, Neuling T, Struber D . Transcranial alternating current stimulation: a review of the underlying mechanisms and modulation of cognitive processes. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013; 7:279. PMC: 3682121. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00279. View

Battaglini L, Ghiani A, Casco C, Ronconi L . Parietal tACS at beta frequency improves vision in a crowding regime. Neuroimage. 2019; 208:116451. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116451. View

Lin M, Lin K . Walking while Performing Working Memory Tasks Changes the Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamic Activations and Gait Kinematics. Front Behav Neurosci. 2016; 10:92. PMC: 4870471. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00092. View

Bonnet C, Baudry S . Active vision task and postural control in healthy, young adults: Synergy and probably not duality. Gait Posture. 2016; 48:57-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.04.016. View

Wischnewski M, Zerr P, Schutter D . Effects of Theta Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Over the Frontal Cortex on Reversal Learning. Brain Stimul. 2016; 9(5):705-711. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2016.04.011. View

10.

Wu X, Chen X, Li Z, Han S, Zhang D . Binding of verbal and spatial information in human working memory involves large-scale neural synchronization at theta frequency. Neuroimage. 2007; 35(4):1654-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.02.011. View

11.

McNevin N, Wulf G . Attentional focus on supra-postural tasks affects postural control. Hum Mov Sci. 2002; 21(2):187-202. DOI: 10.1016/s0167-9457(02)00095-7. View

12.

Nobrega-Sousa P, Gobbi L, Orcioli-Silva D, da Conceicao N, Beretta V, Vitorio R . Prefrontal Cortex Activity During Walking: Effects of Aging and Associations With Gait and Executive Function. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2020; 34(10):915-924. DOI: 10.1177/1545968320953824. View

13.

Miranda P, Mekonnen A, Salvador R, Ruffini G . The electric field in the cortex during transcranial current stimulation. Neuroimage. 2013; 70:48-58. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.12.034. View

14.

Wang X . Neurophysiological and computational principles of cortical rhythms in cognition. Physiol Rev. 2010; 90(3):1195-268. PMC: 2923921. DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00035.2008. View

15.

Fertonani A, Ferrari C, Miniussi C . What do you feel if I apply transcranial electric stimulation? Safety, sensations and secondary induced effects. Clin Neurophysiol. 2015; 126(11):2181-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2015.03.015. View

16.

Riley M, Baker A, Schmit J . Inverse relation between postural variability and difficulty of a concurrent short-term memory task. Brain Res Bull. 2003; 62(3):191-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2003.09.012. View

17.

Doumas M, Smolders C, Brunfaut E, Bouckaert F, Krampe R . Dual task performance of working memory and postural control in major depressive disorder. Neuropsychology. 2011; 26(1):110-8. DOI: 10.1037/a0026181. View

18.

Kimura T, Kaneko F, Nagahata K, Shibata E, Aoki N . Working Memory Training Improves Dual-Task Performance on Motor Tasks. J Mot Behav. 2016; 49(4):388-397. DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2016.1219306. View

19.

Bogost M, Burgos P, Little C, Woollacott M, Dalton B . Electrocortical Sources Related to Whole-Body Surface Translations during a Single- and Dual-Task Paradigm. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016; 10:524. PMC: 5067303. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00524. View

20.

Polania R, Nitsche M, Korman C, Batsikadze G, Paulus W . The importance of timing in segregated theta phase-coupling for cognitive performance. Curr Biol. 2012; 22(14):1314-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.05.021. View