Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and long-term memory
Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) uses weak electrical current to stimulate the brain. This technique is a form of neuron stimulation and has been popular in recent researches because of its effects in human cognition. Our goal is to produce the instrument which can generate a constant current of 1.2mA intensity and apply it to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) which has been proved important for memory. And we also simulated the brain to observe the electric field and current density distribution in the brain. Fourteen volunteers participated in a learning task comprised of 120 Chinese Characters for a duration of eight weeks. Anodal and sham transcranial direct current stimulation was used in the procedure for memory retention and testing. The participants were asked to study for 40 minutes and then completed a 10 minute test. A series of these tests were repeated two and four weeks later after finishing the four weeks of studying to record memory retention. The results of this study indicate that the subjects stimulated with tDCS performed better in learning Chinese Characters and recalled more. However, this technique could not change the velocity of forgetting and because of the small sample (N=14), the results didn't pass the t-tests which means the differences between the anodal and sham stimulation was not significant. Therefore, our results suggest that further studies on tDCS applied over DLPFC of long-term memory are necessary because this technique might be helpful in basic education and clinical treatment of disease.
Degree
M.S.E.
Advisors
Chen, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Neurosciences|Electrical engineering|Electromagnetics
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