A Neurobehavioral Evaluation of the Efficacy of 1mA Longitudinal, Anodal TDCS on Multitasking and Transfer Performance

Multitasking requires rapid switching of attention and cognitive resources between different tasks in a dynamic environment, relying on cognitive processes, such as working memory, executive control, and selective attention. Although studies have investigated the efficacy of various neurobehavioral interventions in improving multitasking capabilities, the effects of longitudinal anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in enhancing multitasking performance have not been investigated. This research investigated the efficacy of 1mA anodal tDCS administered longitudinally on multitasking performance. 42 participants were randomly and equally divided into the experimental and placebo control conditions in this study conducted for 10 days. All participants executed two multitasking tasks on day 1 and received 1mA anodal/placebo tDCS during task training from day 2 to day 8. Various behavioral and neurophysiological measures have been measured. The findings revealed that tDCS had the propensity to augment multitasking capabilities in the trained task but had limited transfer capabilities. EEG-based brain connectivity analysis also revealed the formation of network hubs in the prefrontal and frontal regions, indicating enhanced cortical activation in the beta band. We intend to use these findings to design interventional frameworks to enhance multitasking performance using tDCS.