A wide body of literature suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) administered over the prefrontal cortex can improve executive function – including decision-making and inhibitory control – in healthy young adults. However, the effects of tDCS in older adults are largely unknown. Here, using a double-blind, sham-controlled approach, changes in a combined perceptual decision-making and inhibitory control task were assessed before and after the application of tDCS (1 mA, 20 minute) targeting the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) or pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) in 42 young (18–34 years) and 41 older (60–80 years) healthy adults. Compared to sham stimulation, anodal tDCS over the preSMA improved decision-making speed for both age groups. Furthermore, the inhibitory control performance of older and younger adults was improved by preSMA and rIFG stimulation, respectively. This study provides evidence that tDCS can improve both perceptual decision-making and inhibitory control in healthy older adults, with the causal role of the preSMA and rIFG regions in cognitive control appearing to vary as a function of healthy ageing.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	brain stimulation, inhibitory control, decision making, age-related decline, inhibitory control, stop signal task, transcranial direct current stimulation, inferior frontal gyrus, pre-supplementary motor area
Research Division:	Psychology
Research Group:	Applied and developmental psychology
Research Field:	Psychology of ageing
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health)
Objective Field:	Health related to ageing
UTAS Author:	Puri, R (Mr Rohan Puri)
UTAS Author:	Hinder, M (Associate Professor Mark Hinder)
ID Code:	148201
Year Published:	2022
Funding Support:	Australian Research Council (DP200101696)
Web of Science® Times Cited:	1
Deposited By:	Psychology
Deposited On:	2021-12-10
Last Modified:	2022-01-06
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