Time- and performance-dependent enhancement of tactospatial working memory caused by online anodal tDCS of the posterior parietal cortex

  1. Miro Grundei
  2. Luca Kämmer
  3. Timo Torsten Schmidt
  4. Till Nierhaus
  5. Felix Blankenburg
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Abstract

Background

Spatial working memory (WM) relies on posterior parietal cortex (PPC) within a distributed fronto-parietal network, yet whether online anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of PPC modulates tactile WM, and how behavioral effects unfold over time, remains unclear.

Objective

We tested whether online anodal tDCS over left PPC modulates performance in a tactospatial WM task and whether stimulation effects vary over time and as a function of baseline performance.

Methods

In a double-blind, sham-controlled, within-subject crossover design, 32 healthy adults completed two counterbalanced sessions (Active, Sham). Each session comprised baseline, stimulation, and post-stimulation phases while participants performed a retro-cued delayed match-to-sample task with vibrotactile patterns delivered to the left index finger. During the stimulation phase, participants received either 2 mA anodal or sham tDCS over left PPC for 15 min, depending on session. Behavioral accuracy was analyzed using a sliding-window approach combined with cluster-based permutation testing.

Results

Active stimulation induced a significant, gradual improvement in WM accuracy relative to sham, emerging approximately eight minutes after stimulation onset and corresponding to a ∼5% performance increase (Hedges’ g = 0.43). Stimulation effects were baseline-dependent, with individuals showing lower initial WM performance exhibiting larger behavioral gains, whereas high performers showed minimal benefits.

Conclusions

These findings show that online anodal stimulation of left PPC can modulate tactile WM performance in a time- and baseline-dependent manner. More broadly, the results suggest that behavioral effects of parietal tDCS emerge gradually during ongoing stimulation and depend on initial cognitive state.

Highlights

  • Online anodal PPC-tDCS enhances tactile working memory

  • Behavioral gains emerge after ∼8 min of stimulation

  • Active stimulation improves accuracy by ∼5% versus sham

  • Lower baseline performers show larger stimulation benefits

  • Sliding-window analyses capture dynamic online tDCS effects

Article activity feed

  1. Version published to 10.64898/2026.06.08.730789 on bioRxiv