Impact of concurrent task performance on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-Induced changes in cortical physiology and working memory

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) provides a means of non-invasively inducing plasticity-related changes in neural circuits in vivo and is experiencing increasing use as a potential tool for modulating brain function. There is growing evidence that tDCS-related outcomes are likely to be influenced by an individual's brain state at the time of stimulation, i.e., effects show a degree of 'state-dependency'. However, few studies have examined the behavioural and physiological impact of state-dependency within cognitively salient brain regions. Here, we applied High-Definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in 20 healthy participants, whilst they either remained at rest, or performed a cognitive task engaging working memory (WM). In a third condition sham stimulation was administered during task performance. Neurophysiological changes were probed using TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs), event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded during n-back WM tasks, and via resting-state EEG (RS-EEG). From a physiological perspective, our results indicate a degree of neuromodulation following HDtDCS, regardless of task engagement, as evidenced by changes in TEP amplitudes following both active stimulation conditions. Changes in ERP (P3) amplitudes were also observed for the 2-Back task following stimulation delivered during task performance only. However, no changes were seen on RS-EEG for any condition, nor were any group-level effects of either stimulation condition observed on n-back performance. As such, these findings paint a complex picture of neural and behavioural responses to prefrontal stimulation in healthy subjects and provide only limited support for state-dependent effects of HD-tDCS over the DLPFC overall. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.