Alzheimer's (strengthening memory)

Abstract
Objective/Hypothesis:
We investigated the role of the location of the stimulating electrode on memory
improvement and hypothesized that entorhinal white versus gray matter
stimulation would have differential effects on memory.
Methods:
Intracranial electrical stimulation was applied to the entorhinal area of twenty-
two participants with already implanted electrodes as they completed visual
memory tasks.
Results:
We found that stimulation of right entorhinal white matter during learning had a
beneficial effect on subsequent memory, while stimulation of adjacent gray
matter or left-sided stimulation was ineffective. This finding was consistent
across three different visually guided memory tasks.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7855810/

Methods: Sixteen healthy subjects were stimulated with varying stimulationsettings on four
different days in a counterbalanced within-subject design.These setups included the application
of (1) tACS with a frequency of 5 Hz (thetafrequency range) over the left DLPFC and (2) the right
superior parietal cortex,(3) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the DLPFC and (4) a
shamstimulation condition during the online performance of a visual delayed-match-to-sample
task with varying working memory load. We introduce a procedure tocalculate an optimal tES
model revealing optimized high-density setups for thepresent study for 3 cathodes and 1 anode
and stimulation currents of 1.5 mA.
Results: A significant interaction effect of stimulation type and load conditionon working memory
capacity was found. This was reflected by a significantimprovement of WM performance in the
high load condition during tACS overthe left DLPFC compared with sham stimulation, which was
not the case for ourparietal tACS or tDCS setup
(PDF) Comparison of transcranial brain stimulation approaches: prefrontal theta alternating current
stimulation enhances working memory performance. Available from:

- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
372033111_Comparison_of_transcranial_brain_stimulation_approaches_pr
efrontal_theta_alternating_current_stimulation_enhances_working_memory
_performance

________________________________________________________________
Abstract
 - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown promise for
cognitive enhancement, particularly in improving working memory through
single-session stimulation of the left dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex
(lDLPFC). However, the effectiveness of multi-session tDCS protocols for
working memory enhancement remains controversial. This study aimed to
investigate the effects of a 2mA anodal tDCS protocol over the lDLPFC on
the performance of the n-back task and Sternberg Working Memory Task
compared to a sham tDCS control group. The study recruited 40 healthy
college students who completed the n-back and Sternberg tasks for 5
sessions, with pre-and post-intervention data recorded. In each session, the
tDCS group received 20 minutes of 2mA anodal tDCS over the left dorso-
lateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC), while the active control group received
sham stimulation. The results showed that both groups improved their task
performance over time, with the greatest effects observed in the more
complex task conditions. However, there were no significant differences in
task performance between the tDCS and sham tDCS groups. These findings
suggest that the effects of multi-session tDCS on WM performance may be
limited and that daily practice may have a greater impact. Future research
should investigate individual differences in tDCS response and the optimal
design of multi-session tDCS protocols for cognitive enhancement.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
371588341_Does_longitudinal_anodal_tDCS_improve_working_memory_
A_behavioral_investigation_tDCS_and_Working_Memory

Abstract
Background A pattern of attentional bias for threatening information is thought
to be involved in the aetiology of anxiety pathology. Consistent with this,
cognitive training techniques directly targeting such patterns of biased attention
have been shown to reduce anxiety symptomatology. Research seeking to
establish the neurological underpinnings of change in the attentional bias for
threat have implicated, but not confirmed, the role of lateral prefrontal regions.
Methods The current study sought to experimentally confirm the causal role of
lateral prefrontal areas in the modification of attentional bias by delivering
targeted cortical stimulation during attentional bias modification training to
assess the consequent effects on attentional bias change. A total of 77 volunteers
(17-22 per group) received either active transcranial direct current stimulation of
the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or a sham stimulation control condition
while completing either an “attend threat” or “avoid threat” attention bias
modification task. Results Participants receiving active stimulation showed
greater evidence of attentional bias acquisition in the targeted direction (toward
or away from threat) as compared to those in the sham stimulation condition.
Conclusions Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that increasing
activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex leads to greater evidence of
attention bias modification. This serves to confirm the role of these areas in
facilitating change in the allocation of attention threat. We believe this study
provides a critical step in the translation of neuroimaging findings to novel
neuromodulatory interventions capable of enhancing the treatment of emotional
pathology.

Electrode placement for transcranial direct current stimulation showing the

target location of the anodal electrode (F3; left) and the positioning of both
anodal and cathodal electrodes (right; securing headbands not shown for
illustrative purposes).

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
260759288_The_Causal_Role_of_the_Dorsolateral_Prefrontal_Cortex_in_the_
Modification_of_Attentional_Bias_Evidence_from_Transcranial_Direct_Curre
nt_Stimulation

________________________________________________________________

Abstract
Memory enhancement is one of the great challenges in cognitive neuroscience
and neurorehabilitation. Among various techniques used for memory
enhancement, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is emerging as an
especially promising tool for improvement of memory functions in a non-
invasive manner. Here, we present a tDCS protocol that can be applied for
memory enhancement in healthy-participant studies as well as in aging and
dementia research. The protocol uses weak constant anodal current to stimulate
cortical targets within cortico-hippocampal functional network engaged in
memory processes. The target electrode is placed either on the posterior parietal
cortex (PPC) or the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), while the return
electrode is placed extracranially (i.e., on the contralateral cheek). In addition,
we outline a more advanced method of oscillatory tDCS, mimicking a natural
brain rhythm to promote hippocampus-dependent memory functions, which can
be applied in a personalized and non-personalized manner. We present
illustrative results of associative and working memory improvement following
single tDCS sessions (20 minutes) in which the described electrode montages
were used with current intensities between 1.5 mA and 1.8 mA. Finally, we
discuss crucial steps in the protocol and methodological decisions that must be
made when designing a tDCS study on memory.

https://www.jove.com/t/62681/transcranial-direct-current-stimulation-tdcs-for-
memory-enhancement
___________________________________________________________

Experimental procedures for Experiments 1–4. The active electrode

(anode, marked red) was placed over the cortical targets, i.e., left PPC (P3
site of the International 10–20 EEG system) in Experiment l, right PPC
 (P4 site of the International 10–20 EEG system) in Experiment 2, left PPC
and left DLPFC (P3 and F3 site of the International 10–20 EEG system)
in Experiment 3, and right PPC and right DLPFC (P4 and F4 site of the
International 10–20 EEG system) in Experiment 4. In each experiment,
the return electrode (cathode, marked blue) was placed over the
contralateral cheek. The inactive electrode is marked grey. The
participants performed memory tasks after the stimulation (offline
protocol), and the order of the stimulation conditions was counterbalanced
across all experiments. Note: tDCS—Transcranial Direct Current
Stimulation; PPC—Posterior Parietal Cortex; DLPFC—Dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex; EEG—Electroencephalography.

 Conclusions
This study demonstrated that placebo-like effects stemming from
participants’ beliefs about the stimulation type they received are unlikely to
influence the results in the research of memory neuromodulation with tDCS in
healthy participants, at least when computerized AM and WM tasks with
automatic scoring are used as outcome measures.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/1/58
______________________________________________________________
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with working memory and actively holds
many pieces of transitory information. There is still discussion going on whether or not the
DLPFC is a specialized type of working memory such as computation mechanisms, or if it
contains certain content namely visuospatial information (which allows us to mentally picture
coordinates within the spatial domain).
To boost memorization & learning an anode is placed on FP1 or FP2, with a contralateral
shoulder cathode. A large anode electrode could also be placed across FP1 and FP2 at 2
mA, with a neck-placed cathode. This studies findings concluded that stimulation over the
DLPFC had lead to an enhancement of verbal memorization while cathodal stimulation had
impaired the memorization rate.

http://tdcsplacements.com/placements/boosting-memorization-and-learning/
______________________________________________________________
Anode: Left Forehead (FP1)
Cathode: Right Forehead (FP2)
Expected Results: An Improvement in Memorization and Learning

https://totaltdcs.com/tdcs-montages/memorization-and-learning/
______________________________________________________________
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7855810/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
372033111_Comparison_of_transcranial_brain_stimulation_approaches_pr
efrontal_theta_alternating_current_stimulation_enhances_working_memory
_performance
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
371588341_Does_longitudinal_anodal_tDCS_improve_working_memory_
A_behavioral_investigation_tDCS_and_Working_Memory
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
260759288_The_Causal_Role_of_the_Dorsolateral_Prefrontal_Cortex_in_t
he_Modification_of_Attentional_Bias_Evidence_from_Transcranial_Direct
_Current_Stimulation
- https://www.jove.com/t/62681/transcranial-direct-current-stimulation-tdcs-
for-memory-enhancement
- https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/1/58
- http://tdcsplacements.com/placements/boosting-memorization-and-learning/
- https://totaltdcs.com/tdcs-montages/memorization-and-learning/
-