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Article

Conventional and HD-tDCS May (or May Not) Modulate Overt Attentional Orienting: An Integrated Spatio-Temporal Approach and Methodological Reflections

by
Lorenzo Diana
1,*,
Giulia Scotti
2,
Edoardo N. Aiello
1,
Patrick Pilastro
2,
Aleksandra K. Eberhard-Moscicka
3,4,
René M. Müri
3,4 and
Nadia Bolognini
5,6
1
Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
2
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
3
Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Neurology and BioMedical Research, Bern University Hospital Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
4
Department of Neurology, Bern University Hospital Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
5
Department of Psychology & Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMI), University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
6
Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, 20122 Milan, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Brain Sci. 2022, 12(1), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010071
Submission received: 8 November 2021 / Revised: 29 December 2021 / Accepted: 30 December 2021 / Published: 31 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Modulatory Role of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Techniques on Cognitive Functions: Hints from Significant and Null Results)
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Abstract

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has been employed to modulate visuo-spatial attentional asymmetries, however, further investigation is needed to characterize tDCS-associated variability in more ecological settings. In the present research, we tested the effects of offline, anodal conventional tDCS (Experiment 1) and HD-tDCS (Experiment 2) delivered over the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and Frontal Eye Field (FEF) of the right hemisphere in healthy participants. Attentional asymmetries were measured by means of an eye tracking-based, ecological paradigm, that is, a Free Visual Exploration task of naturalistic pictures. Data were analyzed from a spatiotemporal perspective. In Experiment 1, a pre-post linear mixed model (LMM) indicated a leftward attentional shift after PPC tDCS; this effect was not confirmed when the individual baseline performance was considered. In Experiment 2, FEF HD-tDCS was shown to induce a significant leftward shift of gaze position, which emerged after 6 s of picture exploration and lasted for 200 ms. The present results do not allow us to conclude on a clear efficacy of offline conventional tDCS and HD-tDCS in modulating overt visuospatial attention in an ecological setting. Nonetheless, our findings highlight a complex relationship among stimulated area, focality of stimulation, spatiotemporal aspects of deployment of attention, and the role of individual baseline performance in shaping the effects of tDCS.
Keywords: HD-tDCS; visuospatial attention; attentional orienting; eye tracking; free visual exploration HD-tDCS; visuospatial attention; attentional orienting; eye tracking; free visual exploration

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MDPI and ACS Style

Diana, L.; Scotti, G.; Aiello, E.N.; Pilastro, P.; Eberhard-Moscicka, A.K.; Müri, R.M.; Bolognini, N. Conventional and HD-tDCS May (or May Not) Modulate Overt Attentional Orienting: An Integrated Spatio-Temporal Approach and Methodological Reflections. Brain Sci. 2022, 12, 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010071

AMA Style

Diana L, Scotti G, Aiello EN, Pilastro P, Eberhard-Moscicka AK, Müri RM, Bolognini N. Conventional and HD-tDCS May (or May Not) Modulate Overt Attentional Orienting: An Integrated Spatio-Temporal Approach and Methodological Reflections. Brain Sciences. 2022; 12(1):71. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010071

Chicago/Turabian Style

Diana, Lorenzo, Giulia Scotti, Edoardo N. Aiello, Patrick Pilastro, Aleksandra K. Eberhard-Moscicka, René M. Müri, and Nadia Bolognini. 2022. "Conventional and HD-tDCS May (or May Not) Modulate Overt Attentional Orienting: An Integrated Spatio-Temporal Approach and Methodological Reflections" Brain Sciences 12, no. 1: 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010071

APA Style

Diana, L., Scotti, G., Aiello, E. N., Pilastro, P., Eberhard-Moscicka, A. K., Müri, R. M., & Bolognini, N. (2022). Conventional and HD-tDCS May (or May Not) Modulate Overt Attentional Orienting: An Integrated Spatio-Temporal Approach and Methodological Reflections. Brain Sciences, 12(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010071

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