Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education Faculty of Psychology Beijing Normal University Beijing China.
Brain Behav. 2018 Jan 11;8(2):e00884. doi: 10.1002/brb3.884. eCollection 2018 Feb.
Studies on risk preferences have long been of great concern and have examined the neural basis underlying risk-based decision making. However, studies using conventional transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) revealed that bilateral stimulation could change risk propensity with limited evidence of precisely focalized unilateral high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS). The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of HD-tDCS focalizing the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on risk-taking behavior during the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART).
This study was designed as a between-subject, single-blind, sham-controlled experiment. University students were randomly assigned to three groups: the anodal group (F3 anode, AF3, F1, F5, FC3 returned), the cathodal group (F3 cathodal, AF3, F1, F5, FC3 returned) and the sham group. Subsequently, 1.5-mA 20-min HD-tDCS was applied during the BART, and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), the Sensation Seeking Scale-5 (SSS-5), and the Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Approach System scale (BIS/BAS) were measured as control variables.
The cathodal group earned less total money than the sham group, and no significant difference was observed between the anodal group and the sham group.
These results showed that, to some extent, focalized unilateral cathodal HD-tDCS on left DLPFC could change performance during risky tasks and diminish risky decision making. Further studies are needed to investigate the dose effect and electrode distribution of HD-tDCS during risky tasks and examine synchronous brain activity to show the neural basis.
风险偏好的研究一直备受关注，并研究了风险决策的神经基础。然而，使用传统经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）的研究表明，双侧刺激可以改变风险倾向，但对精确聚焦单侧高清晰度经颅直流电刺激（HD-tDCS）的证据有限。本实验旨在研究刺激左侧背外侧前额叶皮质（DLPFC）的 HD-tDCS 对气球模拟风险任务（BART）中冒险行为的影响。
本研究设计为组间、单盲、假对照实验。大学生被随机分配到三个组：阳极组（F3 阳极、AF3、F1、F5、FC3 回流）、阴极组（F3 阴极、AF3、F1、F5、FC3 回流）和假组。随后，在 BART 期间应用 1.5mA 20 分钟的 HD-tDCS，并测量正性情绪和负性情绪量表（PANAS）、感觉寻求量表-5（SSS-5）和行为抑制系统和行为趋近系统量表（BIS/BAS）作为控制变量。
阴极组的总奖金比假组少，而阳极组与假组之间没有显著差异。
这些结果表明，在某种程度上，左侧 DLPFC 的单侧阴极 HD-tDCS 可以改变风险任务中的表现并减少冒险决策。需要进一步研究来探讨风险任务中 HD-tDCS 的剂量效应和电极分布，并检查同步脑活动以显示神经基础。
