Enhancing multiple object tracking performance with noninvasive brain stimulation: a causal role for the anterior intraparietal sulcus

Abstract

Multiple object tracking (MOT) is a complex task recruiting a distributed network of brain regions. There are also marked individual differences in MOT performance. A positive causal relationship between the anterior intraparietal sulcus (AIPS), an integral region in the MOT attention network and inter-individual variation in MOT performance has not been previously established. The present study used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation, in order to examine such a causal link. Active anodal stimulation was applied to the right AIPS and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (and sham stimulation), an area associated with working memory (but not MOT) while participants completed a MOT task. Stimulation to the right AIPS significantly improved MOT accuracy more than the other two conditions. The results confirm a causal role of the AIPS in the MOT task and illustrate that tDCS has the ability to improve MOT performance.

Keywords: anterior intraparietal sulcus; brain stimulation; multiple object tracking; spatial attention; tDCS.

Figure 1

Sequence of actions within the MOT task.

Figure 2

MOT accuracy ± SEM (standard error of the mean) across stimulation sites broken down by time point (baseline and stimulation) and tracking load (low and high). * indicates significant difference.

Figure 3

MOT accuracy in the high tracking load condition + SEM (standard error of the mean). * indicates significant difference.

Figure 4

Correlation between baseline MOT accuracy and the change in MOT accuracy within the AIPS high tracking load condition.

Figure 5

Accuracy per block in the AIPS stimulation high tracking load condition, subsession differentiated by bar color.