Differential effects of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) on attentional guidance by working memory in males with substance use disorder according to memory modality

• Published in: Brain and cognition Vol. 177; p. 106149
• Main Authors: Cai, Biye, Tang, Junjie, Sang, Hanbin, Zhang, Zonghao, Wang, Aijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Attention - physiology; Cognitive control; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation; Humans; Male; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Memory-driven attention; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation - methods; Visual Perception - physiology; Young Adult; Substance use disorder; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Memory-driven attention; High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation; Cognitive control
• ISSN: 0278-2626; 1090-2147; 1090-2147
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106149

•Anodal HD-tDCS of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex facilitates unimodal but not bimodal memory-driven attention.•Cathodal HD-tDCS selectively promotes the temporal dynamics of bimodal memory-driven attentional guidance.•However, no changes in the strength of memory-driven attentional guidance after cathodal HD-tDCS.•Audiovisual memorandum modulates the influence of the content of working memory on distractor suppression in visual search.•A single session of HD-tDCS improved memory-driven attention in substance users, which was modulated by memory modality. Information stored in working memory can guide perception selection, and this process is modulated by cognitive control. Although previous studies have demonstrated that neurostimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) contributes to restore cognitive control among individuals with substance use disorder (SUD), there remains an open question about the potential stimulation effects on memory-driven attention. To address this issue, the present study adopted a combined working memory/attention paradigm while employing high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to stimulate the lDLPFC. Observers were asked to maintain visual or audiovisual information in memory while executing a search task, while the validity of the memory contents for the subsequent search task could be either invalid or neutral. The results showed a faint memory-driven attentional suppression effect in sham stimulation only under the audiovisual condition. Moreover, anodal HD-tDCS facilitated attentional suppression effect in both the strength and temporal dynamics under the visual-only condition, whereas the effect was impaired or unchanged under the audiovisual condition. Surprisingly, cathodal HD-tDCS selectively improved temporal dynamics of the attentional suppression effect under the audiovisual condition. The present study revealed the differential enhancement of HD-tDCS on cognitive control over visual and audiovisual memory-driven attention among individuals with SUD.