Presentation
Assessment of HD-tDCS Effects on Vigilance Performance
SessionWednesday Poster Session
DescriptionThe ability to sustain attention, also known as vigilance, is critical across operationally diverse work settings such as surveillance, aviation, and baggage screening. Because performance on these tasks often declines over time, a phenomenon known as the vigilance decrement, vigilance research has focused on identifying methods for maintaining optimal performance. In this vein, past studies have suggested that anodal (i.e., positive) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) can improve vigilance performance. However, previous comparisons of left- and right-hemispheric stimulation using conventional tDCS reported greater benefits following left-hemispheric stimulation, a finding that contrasts with vigilance literature suggesting that vigilance performance primarily relies on right-hemispheric attentional networks. Because conventional tDCS produces diffuse current flow, the present study utilized high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) to more precisely compare left- and right-hemispheric stimulation during vigilance performance. Forty-two participants were randomly assigned to left DLPFC, right DLPFC, or sham HD-tDCS conditions while completing a 40-minute cognitive vigilance task. Surprisingly, HD-tDCS stimulation did not influence vigilance performance, regardless of which hemisphere was stimulated. These findings suggest that more research is needed to evaluate reliability, effectiveness, and best-practices for tDCS augmentation of vigilance.
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 21st5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Location