Trial reportThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2026
Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increases gamma power and standing balance in older adults.
Trial report in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
backgroundStanding is a complex task often performed concurrently with a cognitive task. This type of "dual-tasking" requires attentional processing and related patterns of brain activation, particularly in the gamma frequency band of electrographic electroencephalography (EEG) signals (30-50 Hz). In older adults, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) designed to facilitate the excitability of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) improves attentional control and dual-task standing performance when tested just after stimulation. However, the effects of tDCS on underlying brain activity during single- and dual-task standing are unknown.
methodsThirty older adults completed three visits during which they received 20 min of tDCS targeting the L-DLPFC, the primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1, active control), or sham (inactive control) in randomized order. Before and immediately after each stimulation session, 32-channel EEG and body-worn motion sensors were used as participants completed trials of standing with and without verbalized serial subtractions.
resultstDCS targeting L-DLPFC, as compared to SM1 and sham stimulation, increased gamma power during single-task standing in the anterior left (p = .02) and anterior right regions (p = .03). A similar trend (p = .08) towards increased gamma power in these regions following tDCS targeting the L-DLPFC was also observed during dual-task standing. Participants who demonstrated a greater increase in gamma power after tDCS targeting L-DLPFC exhibited greater reduction (improvement) in postural sway during single-task standing (r = -0.53, p = .007) and dual-task standing (r = -0.51, p = .003).
conclusionsThese results suggest that tDCS designed to facilitate L-DLPFC excitability modulates gamma power during single-task standing, which was in turn correlated with improved postural control, in older adults.
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