Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory
Апстракт
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has become a valuable tool in cognitive neuroscience
research as it enables causal inferences about neural underpinnings of cognition. However,
studies using tDCS to modulate cognitive functions often yield inconsistent findings. Hence, there
is an increasing interest in factors that may moderate the effects, one of which is the participants’
beliefs of the tDCS condition (i.e., real or sham) they received. Namely, whether participants’ correct
guessing of sham condition may lead to false-positive tDCS effects. In this study, we aimed to
explore if participants’ beliefs about received stimulation type (i.e., the success of blinding) impacted
their task performance in tDCS experiments on associative (AM) and working memory (WM).We
analyzed data from four within-subject, sham-controlled tDCS memory experiments (N = 83) to
check if the correct end-of-study guess of sham condition moderated tDCS effects. We found no
evidence that sha...m guessing moderated post-tDCS memory performance in experiments in which
tDCS effects were observed as well as in experiments that showed null effects of tDCS. The results
suggest that the correct sham guessing (i.e., placebo-like effect) is unlikely to influence the results in
tDCS memory experiments. We discuss the results in light of the growing debate about the relevance
and effectiveness of blinding in brain stimulation research.
Кључне речи:
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) / blinding / placebo / sham / associative memory / working memory / end-of-study guessИзвор:
Brain sciences, 2022, 12, 1, 58-Издавач:
- Basel : MDPI
Финансирање / пројекти:
- Министарство науке, технолошког развоја и иновација Републике Србије, институционално финансирање - 200015 (Универзитет у Београду, Институт за медицинска истраживања) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200015)
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12010058
ISSN: 2076-3425
WoS: 000747150300001
Scopus: 2-s2.0-85122149343
Институција/група
Psihologija / PsychologyTY - JOUR AU - Stanković, Marija AU - Živanović, Marko AU - Bjekić, Jovana AU - Filipović, Saša R. PY - 2022 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/3425 AB - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has become a valuable tool in cognitive neuroscience research as it enables causal inferences about neural underpinnings of cognition. However, studies using tDCS to modulate cognitive functions often yield inconsistent findings. Hence, there is an increasing interest in factors that may moderate the effects, one of which is the participants’ beliefs of the tDCS condition (i.e., real or sham) they received. Namely, whether participants’ correct guessing of sham condition may lead to false-positive tDCS effects. In this study, we aimed to explore if participants’ beliefs about received stimulation type (i.e., the success of blinding) impacted their task performance in tDCS experiments on associative (AM) and working memory (WM).We analyzed data from four within-subject, sham-controlled tDCS memory experiments (N = 83) to check if the correct end-of-study guess of sham condition moderated tDCS effects. We found no evidence that sham guessing moderated post-tDCS memory performance in experiments in which tDCS effects were observed as well as in experiments that showed null effects of tDCS. The results suggest that the correct sham guessing (i.e., placebo-like effect) is unlikely to influence the results in tDCS memory experiments. We discuss the results in light of the growing debate about the relevance and effectiveness of blinding in brain stimulation research. PB - Basel : MDPI T2 - Brain sciences T1 - Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory IS - 1 SP - 58 VL - 12 DO - 10.3390/brainsci12010058 ER -
@article{ author = "Stanković, Marija and Živanović, Marko and Bjekić, Jovana and Filipović, Saša R.", year = "2022", abstract = "Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has become a valuable tool in cognitive neuroscience research as it enables causal inferences about neural underpinnings of cognition. However, studies using tDCS to modulate cognitive functions often yield inconsistent findings. Hence, there is an increasing interest in factors that may moderate the effects, one of which is the participants’ beliefs of the tDCS condition (i.e., real or sham) they received. Namely, whether participants’ correct guessing of sham condition may lead to false-positive tDCS effects. In this study, we aimed to explore if participants’ beliefs about received stimulation type (i.e., the success of blinding) impacted their task performance in tDCS experiments on associative (AM) and working memory (WM).We analyzed data from four within-subject, sham-controlled tDCS memory experiments (N = 83) to check if the correct end-of-study guess of sham condition moderated tDCS effects. We found no evidence that sham guessing moderated post-tDCS memory performance in experiments in which tDCS effects were observed as well as in experiments that showed null effects of tDCS. The results suggest that the correct sham guessing (i.e., placebo-like effect) is unlikely to influence the results in tDCS memory experiments. We discuss the results in light of the growing debate about the relevance and effectiveness of blinding in brain stimulation research.", publisher = "Basel : MDPI", journal = "Brain sciences", title = "Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory", number = "1", pages = "58", volume = "12", doi = "10.3390/brainsci12010058" }
Stanković, M., Živanović, M., Bjekić, J.,& Filipović, S. R.. (2022). Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory. in Brain sciences Basel : MDPI., 12(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010058
Stanković M, Živanović M, Bjekić J, Filipović SR. Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory. in Brain sciences. 2022;12(1):58. doi:10.3390/brainsci12010058 .
Stanković, Marija, Živanović, Marko, Bjekić, Jovana, Filipović, Saša R., "Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory" in Brain sciences, 12, no. 1 (2022):58, https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010058 . .