Improved proper name recall by electrical stimulation of the anterior temporal lobes

People s names have an embarrassing propensity to be forgotten This problem is exacerbated by normal aging and by some kinds of dementia As evidence from neuroimaging and neuropsychology suggest that portions of the anterior temporal lobes play a role in proper name retrieval we hypothesized that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) a technique that modulates neural transmission to the anterior temporal lobes would alter the retrieval of proper names Fifteen young adults received left anodal right anodal or sham stimulation of the anterior temporal lobes while naming pictures of famous individuals and landmarks Right anterior temporal lobe stimulation significantly Improved naming for people but not landmarks These findings are consistent with the notion that the anterior temporal lobes are critically involved in the retrieval of people s names (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved