Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34510254›Full record

ArticleExperimental brain research2021

Enhancement of task-switching performance with transcranial direct current stimulation over the right lateral prefrontal cortex.

Kristin Prehn, Anja Skoglund, Tilo Strobach

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Experimental brain research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kristin PrehnDepartment of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg - University of Applied Sciences and Medical University, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany. kristin.prehn@medicalschool-hamburg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0656-5323
Anja SkoglundDepartment of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg - University of Applied Sciences and Medical University, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
Tilo StrobachDepartment of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg - University of Applied Sciences and Medical University, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany. tilo.strobach@medicalschool-hamburg.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Switching between two or more tasks is a key component in our modern world. Task switching, however, requires time-consuming executive control processes and thus produces performance costs when compared to task repetitions. While executive control during task switching has been associated with activation in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC), only few studies so far have investigated the causal relation between lPFC activation and task-switching performance by modulating lPFC activation. In these studies, the results of lPFC modulation were not conclusive or limited to the left lPFC. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS; anodal tDCS (1 mA, 20 min) vs. cathodal tDCS (1 mA, 20 min) vs. sham tDCS (1 mA, 30 s)] over the right inferior frontal junction on task-switching performance in a well-established task-switching paradigm. In response times, we found a significant effect of tDCS Condition (atDCS, ctDCS vs. sham) on task-switching costs, indicating the modulation of task-switching performance by tDCS. In addition, we found a task-unspecific tDCS Condition effect in the first experimental session, in which participants were least familiar with the task, indicating a general enhancement of task performance in both task repetitions and task-switching trials. Taken together, our study provides evidence that the right lPFC is involved in task switching as well as in general task processing. Further studies are needed to investigate whether these findings can be translated into clinically relevant improvement in older subjects or populations with executive function impairment.

Indexed as

Transcranial Direct Current StimulationAgedExecutive FunctionHumansPrefrontal CortexReaction TimeTask Performance and AnalysisExecutive controlNon-invasive brain stimulationRight lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC)Task switchingTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Identifiers

PMID34510254
PMCPMC8599339

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.