HD-tDCS in a Gaming Setting: Effects of Polarity and Timing in a Visuospatial Working-Memory Task

Abstract Visuospatial working memory is essential to everyday functioning, for example, when navigating the natural world and for complex everyday tasks like driving. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is associated with visuospatial working memory and the present study is aimed at investigating the impact of activity modulation in the DLPFC on performance in a gaming setting with high visuospatial working memory demands. In order to influence the activation in the DLPFC, we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Understanding working memory and the connected brain regions is relevant for improved cognitive functioning through cognitive enhancement in a wide variety of applications. N = 26 participants participated in a sham-controlled high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) study fully crossing polarity (anodal vs. cathodal) and stimulation timing (offline vs. online) within-subjects. In each session, a participant’s visuospatial working memory performance in a gaming setting was measured twice using a research game akin to the Super Hexagon game (Cavanagh, 2012). No significant polarity or timing effects were found for either of the variables tested. These results contribute to the understanding under which conditions cognitive enhancement may be viable in practice (e.g., to enhance learning, e-sports performance, or driving).