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Differential Age Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Associative Memory

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  • Ryan C Leach
  • Matthew P McCurdy
  • Michael C Trumbo
  • Laura E Matzen
  • Eric D Leshikar
  • Nicole Anderson

Abstract

Objectives Older adults experience associative memory deficits relative to younger adults (Old & Naveh-Benjamin, 2008). The aim of this study was to test the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on face-name associative memory in older and younger adults. MethodExperimenters applied active (1.5 mA) or sham (0.1 mA) stimulation with the anode placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during a face-name encoding task, and measured both cued recall and recognition performance. Participants completed memory tests immediately after stimulation and after a 24-h delay to examine both immediate and delayed stimulation effects on memory. Results Results showed improved face-name associative memory performance for both recall and recognition measures, but only for younger adults, whereas there was no difference between active and sham stimulation for older adults. For younger adults, stimulation-induced memory improvements persisted after a 24-h delay, suggesting delayed effects of tDCS after a consolidation period. Discussion Although effective in younger adults, these results suggest that older adults may be resistant to this intervention, at least under the stimulation parameters used in the current study. This finding is inconsistent with a commonly seen trend, where tDCS effects on cognition are larger in older than younger adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryan C Leach & Matthew P McCurdy & Michael C Trumbo & Laura E Matzen & Eric D Leshikar & Nicole Anderson, 2019. "Differential Age Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Associative Memory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 74(7), pages 1163-1173.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:74:y:2019:i:7:p:1163-1173.
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