Modulation of control: Can HD-tDCS targeting the dACC reduce impulsivity?

Background: The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and its neurocircuits are central in impulsivity, and maladaptive dACC activity has been implicated in psychological disorders characterized by high trait impulsivity. High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation tool that, with certain electrode configurations, can be optimized for targeting deeper subcorticalbrainstructures, such as the dACC.

Objectives: Using behavioural and electrophysiological measures we investigated whether HD-tDCS targeting the dACC could modulate two key components of impulsivity, inhibitory control and error processing.

Methods: Twenty-three healthy adults with high trait impulsivity participated in two experimental sessions. Participants received active or sham HD-tDCS in counterbalanced order with a wash-out period of at least 3 days, as part of a single-blind, cross-over design. EEG was recorded during the Go-NoGo task before, directly after, and 30 min after HD-tDCS.

Results: HD-tDCS targeting the dACC did not affect inhibitory control performance on the Go-NoGo task, but there was evidence for a delayed change in underlying neurophysiological components of motor inhibition (NoGo P3) and error processing (error related negativity; ERN) after one session of HD-tDCS.

Conclusion: HD-tDCS has potential to modulate underlying neurophysiological components of impulsivity. Future studies should further explore to what degree the dACC was affected and whether multi-session HD-tDCS has the capacity to also induce behavioural changes, particularly in clinical samples characterized by high trait impulsivity.