IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0222995.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Single session high definition transcranial direct current stimulation to the cerebellum does not impact higher cognitive function

Author

Listed:
  • Ted Maldonado
  • James R M Goen
  • Michael J Imburgio
  • Sydney M Eakin
  • Jessica A Bernard

Abstract

The prefrontal cortex is central to higher order cognitive function. However, the cerebellum, generally thought to be involved in motor control and learning, has also been implicated in higher order cognition. Recent work using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) provides some support for right cerebellar involvement in higher order cognition, though the results are mixed, and often contradictory. Here, we used cathodal high definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) over the right cerebellum to assess the impact of HD-tDCS on modulating cognitive performance. We predicted that stimulation would result in performance decreases, which would suggest that optimal cerebellar function is necessary for cognitive performance, much like the prefrontal cortex. That is, it is not simply a structure that lends support to complete difficult tasks. While the expected cognitive behavioral effects were present, we did not find effects of stimulation. This has broad implications for cerebellar tDCS research, particularly for those who are interested in using HD-tDCS as a way of examining cerebellar function. Further implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed with particular emphasis on why null findings might be critical in developing a clear picture of the effects of tDCS on the cerebellum.

Suggested Citation

  • Ted Maldonado & James R M Goen & Michael J Imburgio & Sydney M Eakin & Jessica A Bernard, 2019. "Single session high definition transcranial direct current stimulation to the cerebellum does not impact higher cognitive function," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0222995
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222995
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222995
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222995&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0222995?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Noguchi, Kimihiro & Gel, Yulia R. & Brunner, Edgar & Konietschke, Frank, 2012. "nparLD: An R Software Package for the Nonparametric Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Factorial Experiments," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 50(i12).
    2. Matthew F Tang & Geoffrey R Hammond & David R Badcock, 2016. "Are Participants Aware of the Type and Intensity of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johan Verbeeck & Martin Geroldinger & Konstantin Thiel & Andrew Craig Hooker & Sebastian Ueckert & Mats Karlsson & Arne Cornelius Bathke & Johann Wolfgang Bauer & Geert Molenberghs & Georg Zimmermann, 2023. "How to analyze continuous and discrete repeated measures in small‐sample cross‐over trials?," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 79(4), pages 3998-4011, December.
    2. Hasler Mario, 2013. "Multiple Contrasts for Repeated Measures," The International Journal of Biostatistics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Burchett, Woodrow W. & Ellis, Amanda R. & Harrar, Solomon W. & Bathke, Arne C., 2017. "Nonparametric Inference for Multivariate Data: The R Package npmv," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 76(i04).
    4. Wyłupek, Grzegorz, 2023. "A nonparametric test for paired data," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    5. Simon Haslinger & Daniela Huber & David Morawetz & Cornelia Blank & Johanna Prossegger & Tobias Dünnwald & Arnold Koller & Christian Fink & Arnulf Hartl & Wolfgang Schobersberger, 2019. "Feasibility of Ski Mountaineering for Patients Following a Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Descriptive Field Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Violette Chiara & Felipe Ramon Portugal & Raphael Jeanson, 2019. "Social intolerance is a consequence, not a cause, of dispersal in spiders," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(7), pages 1-27, July.
    7. Umlauft, Maria & Placzek, Marius & Konietschke, Frank & Pauly, Markus, 2019. "Wild bootstrapping rank-based procedures: Multiple testing in nonparametric factorial repeated measures designs," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 176-192.
    8. Ana Mª Pérez Pico & Ester Mingorance Álvarez & Rodrigo Martínez Quintana & Raquel Mayordomo Acevedo, 2019. "Importance of Sock Type in the Development of Foot Lesions on Low-Difficulty, Short Hikes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-13, May.
    9. Friedrich, Sarah & Konietschke, Frank & Pauly, Markus, 2017. "A wild bootstrap approach for nonparametric repeated measurements," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 38-52.
    10. Francisco Barbosa Escobar & Carlos Velasco & Kosuke Motoki & Derek Victor Byrne & Qian Janice Wang, 2021. "The temperature of emotions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-28, June.
    11. Johanna Prossegger & Daniela Huber & Carina Grafetstätter & Christina Pichler & Herbert Braunschmid & Renate Weisböck-Erdheim & Arnulf Hartl, 2019. "Winter Exercise Reduces Allergic Airway Inflammation: A Randomized Controlled Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-15, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0222995. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.