Using Electroencephalography (EEG) and Transcranial Current Stimulation (tCS) to Study and Modulate Cognition Study

Inter-individual variability in responsiveness to interventions poses great challenges for translational neuroscience, and health care in general. Reliable and cost- effective screening procedures that can identify individuals who are more likely to benefit from an intervention could have substantial real-world benefits. Here, the investigators sought to examine the potential for high-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) to modulate sustained attention in a manner that was informed by individual differences in a well-studied electrocortical marker, spontaneous theta/beta ratio. The investigators hypothesized that individuals with relatively high theta/beta ratios, putatively reflecting suboptimal cortical arousal, would be more likely to benefit from the gains in cortical excitability afforded by tRNS. Seventy-two young healthy adults were administered 1mA, 2mA and sham tRNS in a double-blind, randomised, cross-over manner, while they performed a continuous monitoring paradigm. Electroencephalography was acquired before and after each stimulation condition.

This approach may constitute a feasible means of using individual differences in neurophysiology to inform predictions about outcomes from targeted cognitive interventions.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 18-35 years

Exclusion criteria

• Left-handedness
• Visual impairment
• History of fainting,
• History of neurological or psychiatric illness,
• Neurological insult
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Reporting current use of anti- psychotic or anti-depressant medications