Fig. 6: tDCS modulation setup and results of the first tDCS experiment.
From: Neural dissociation of attention and working memory through inhibitory control
a The direction and intensity of the electrical currents were optimized for high-resolution anodal and cathodal stimulation targeting the SMG. b Electrode configuration, showing the central electrode at CP6, surrounded by electrodes at C4, P4, P8, and T8, along with the applied current intensity. c Procedure of the modified change-detection task. Participants first judged whether the memory item’s identity matched a pre-specified one. If it did not, they had to memorize its color and report whether the color of the test item differed from that of the memory item. The identity of the memory item served as attended-without-memory information. d Change-detection task results across three post-tDCS groups. RT (reaction time): a longer RT in the same-identity condition indicates stronger inhibition of attended face identity. Violin plots show mean RT (horizontal line) and individual RTs (scatter points) linked across conditions for each participant. Planned comparison (anodal vs. sham): mixed ANOVA (Group × Condition) showed a significant interaction, F(1,58) = 6.465, p = 0.014, ηp² = 0.100 (n = 30 per group). Post hoc (anodal group, two-sided paired t-test): t(29) = −2.725, p = 0.011, Cohen’s d = −0.498. *p < 0.05; ns = not significant; uncorrected for multiple comparisons. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Face images used under license from the Chinese Affective Face Picture System76.
