Reduced Affective Biasing of Instrumental Action With tDCS Over the Prefrontal Cortex

Verena Ly; Til O Bergmann; Thomas E Gladwin; Inge Volman; Niccolo Usberti; Roshan Cools; Karin Roelofs

doi:10.1016/j.brs.2016.02.002

Reduced Affective Biasing of Instrumental Action With tDCS Over the Prefrontal Cortex

Brain Stimul. 2016 May-Jun;9(3):380-387. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2016.02.002. Epub 2016 Feb 9.

Authors

Verena Ly¹, Til O Bergmann², Thomas E Gladwin³, Inge Volman⁴, Niccolo Usberti⁵, Roshan Cools⁶, Karin Roelofs⁷

Affiliations

¹ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: v.ly@donders.ru.nl.
² Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany; Department of Neurology and Stroke, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
³ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Research Centre - Military Mental Health, Ministry of Defense, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁴ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
⁵ Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁶ Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁷ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: Instrumental action is well known to be vulnerable to affective value. Excessive transfer of affective value to instrumental action is thought to contribute to psychiatric disorders. The brain region most commonly implicated in overriding such affective biasing of instrumental action is the prefrontal cortex.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to reduce affective biasing of instrumental action using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in young healthy human volunteers.

Methods: In a double-blind, randomized between-group design, 120 participants received anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS while at the same time (online) performing a task that assessed affective biasing of instrumental action. We placed tDCS electrodes over the anterior part of the prefrontal cortex based on evidence from brain stimulation work demonstrating the role of this brain region in controlling affective biasing of instrumental action.

Results: We showed that prefrontal tDCS reduced affective biasing of instrumental action. Specifically, prefrontal tDCS reduced the degree to which aversive (versus appetitive) cues potentiated instrumental avoidance and suppressed instrumental approach. Contrary to our hypothesis, this effect was seen for cathodal tDCS rather than anodal tDCS.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate the potential utility of prefrontal tDCS as a tool for reducing affective biasing of instrumental behavior, thus opening avenues for interventional research on psychiatric disorders that implicate excessive transfer of affective value.

Keywords: Affective biases; Decision making; Emotion; Instrumental action; Prefrontal cortex; Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Adult
Cues*
Decision Making / physiology*
Double-Blind Method
Female
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Male
Photic Stimulation / methods
Prefrontal Cortex / physiology*
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / methods*
Young Adult