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Prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has a domain-specific impact on bilingual language control.

ABSTRACT: Researchers debate whether domain-general cognitive control supports bilingual language control through brain regions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a method to alter brain activity, which can lead to causal attribution of task performance to regional brain activity. The current study examined whether the DLPFC enables domain-general control for between-language switching and nonlinguistic switching and whether the control enabled by DLPFC differs between bilinguals and monolinguals. tDCS was applied to the DLPFC of bilingual and monolingual young adults before they performed linguistic and nonlinguistic switching measures. For bilinguals, left DLPFC stimulation selectively worsened nonlinguistic switching, but not within-language switching. Left DLPFC stimulation also resulted in higher overall accuracy on bilingual picture-naming. These findings suggest that language control and cognitive control are distinct processes in relation to the left DLPFC. The left DLPFC may aid bilingual language control, but stimulating it does not benefit nonlinguistic control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

SUBMITTER: Vaughn KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9473447 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has a domain-specific impact on bilingual language control.

Vaughn Kelly A KA Watlington Emily M EM Linares Abrego Paulina P Tamber-Rosenau Benjamin J BJ Hernandez Arturo E AE

Journal of experimental psychology. General 20201026 5

Researchers debate whether domain-general cognitive control supports bilingual language control through brain regions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a method to alter brain activity, which can lead to causal attribution of task performance to regional brain activity. The current study examined whether the DLPFC enables domain-general control for between-language switching and nonlinguistic switching and whether the control en ...[more]

PMID: 33104382

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Project description:Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; DSM-V 309.82) and anxiety disorders (DSM-V 300.xx) are widely spread mental disorders, the effectiveness of their therapy is still unsatisfying. Non-invasive brain-stimulation techniques like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might be an option to improve extinction learning, which is a main functional factor of exposure-based therapy for anxiety disorders. To examine this hypothesis, we used a fear conditioning paradigm with female faces as conditioned stimuli (CS) and a 95-dB female scream as unconditioned stimulus (UCS). We aimed to perform a tDCS of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which is mainly involved in the control of extinction-processes. Therefore, we applied two 4 × 4 cm electrodes approximately at the EEG-positions F7 and F8 and used a direct current of 1.5 mA. The 20-min stimulation was started during a 10-min break between acquisition and extinction and went on overall extinction-trials. The healthy participants were randomly assigned in two double-blinded process into two sham stimulation and two verum stimulation groups with opposite current flow directions. To measure the fear reactions, we used skin conductance responses (SCR) and subjective ratings. We performed a generalized estimating equations model for the SCR to assess the impact of tDCS and current flow direction on extinction processes for all subjects that showed a successful conditioning (N = 84). The results indicate that tDCS accelerates early extinction processes with a significantly faster loss of CS+/CS- discrimination. The discrimination loss was driven by a significant decrease in reaction toward the CS+ as well as an increase in reaction toward the CS- in the tDCS verum groups, whereas the sham groups showed no significant reaction changes during this period. Therefore, we assume that tDCS of the vmPFC can be used to enhance early extinction processes successfully. But before it should be tested in a clinical context further investigation is needed to assess the reason for the reaction increase on CS-. If this negative side effect can be avoided, tDCS may be a tool to improve exposure-based anxiety therapies.

Project description:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique used to modulates cortical brain activity. However, its effects on brain metabolites within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a crucial area targeted for brain stimulation in mental disorders, remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether prefrontal tDCS over the left and right DLPFC modulates levels of key metabolites, including gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate (Glu), glutamine/glutamate (Glx), N-acetylaspartate (NAA), near to the target region and to explore potential sex-specific effects on these metabolite concentrations. A total of 41 healthy individuals (19 female, M_age = 25 years, SD = 3.15) underwent either bifrontal active (2 mA for 20 min) or sham tDCS targeting the left (anode: F3) and right (cathode: F4) DLPFC within a 3 Tesla MRI scanner. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to monitor neurometabolic changes before, during, and after 40 min of tDCS, with measurements of two 10-min intervals during stimulation. A single voxel beneath F3 was used for metabolic quantification. Results showed a statistically significant increase in Glx levels under active tDCS compared to the sham condition, particularly during the second 10-min window and persisting into the post-stimulation phase. No significant changes were observed in other metabolites, but consistent sex differences were detected. Specifically, females showed lower levels of NAA and GABA under active tDCS compared to the sham condition, while no significant changes were observed in males. E-field modeling showed no significant differences in field magnitudes between sexes, and the magnitude of the e-fields did not correlate with changes in Glx levels between active and sham stimulation during the second interval or post-stimulation. This study demonstrates that a single session of prefrontal tDCS significantly elevates Glx levels in the left DLPFC, with effects persisting post-stimulation. However, the observed sex differences in the neurochemical response to tDCS were not linked to specific stimulation intervals or variations in e-field magnitudes, highlighting the complexity of tDCS effects and the need for personalized neuromodulation strategies.

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Prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has a domain-specific impact on bilingual language control.

Publications

Prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has a domain-specific impact on bilingual language control.

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