Stimulating learning: A functional MRI and behavioral investigation of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on stochastic learning in schizophrenia

Natasza D Orlov; Syed Ali Muqtadir; Hooman Oroojeni; Bruno Averbeck; John Rothwell; Sukhi S Shergill

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114908

Stimulating learning: A functional MRI and behavioral investigation of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on stochastic learning in schizophrenia

Psychiatry Res. 2022 Nov:317:114908. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114908. Epub 2022 Oct 14.

Authors

Natasza D Orlov¹, Syed Ali Muqtadir², Hooman Oroojeni³, Bruno Averbeck⁴, John Rothwell⁵, Sukhi S Shergill⁶

Affiliations

¹ Cognition Schizophrenia Imaging Lab, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Liu Lab, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Lab of Precision Brain Imaging, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. Electronic address: natasza.orlov@kcl.ac.uk.
² Cognition Schizophrenia Imaging Lab, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Lahore University of Management and Sciences, Lon, Lahore, Pakistan.
³ Department of Computing, Goldsmiths College, London, United Kingdom.
⁴ Laboratory for Neuropsychology Section on Learning and Decision Making, National Institute of Mental Health Research, Bethesda, MD, United States.
⁵ Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Cognition Schizophrenia Imaging Lab, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Kent and Medway Medical School, Canterbury, United Kingdom.

PMID: 37732853
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114908

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is under clinical investigation as a treatment for cognitive deficits. We investigate the effects of tDCS over the mPFC on performance SSLT in individuals with schizophrenia, and the underlying neurophysiological effect in regions associated with learning values and stimulus-outcome relationships. In this parallel-design double-blind pilot study, 49 individuals with schizophrenia, of whom 28 completed a fMRI, were randomized into active or sham tDCS stimulation groups. Subjects participated in 4 days of SSLT training (days 1, 2, 14, 56) with tDCS applied at day-1, and during a concurrent MRI scan at day-14. The SSLT demonstrated a significant mean difference in performance in the tDCS treatment group: at day-2 and at day-56. Active tDCS was associated with increased insular activity, and reduced amygdala activation. tDCS may offer an important novel approach to modulating brain networks to ameliorate cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, with this study being the first to show a longer-term effect on SSLT.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04184830.

Keywords: Cognition; Cognitive deficits; Imaging; Neuromodulation; Schizophrenia; Stochastic learning; tDCS.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Learning
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Pilot Projects
Psychomotor Agitation
Schizophrenia* / complications
Schizophrenia* / diagnostic imaging
Schizophrenia* / therapy
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation*

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04184830

Grants and funding

DH_/Department of Health/United Kingdom