Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-17-2021
Abstract
"The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on motor performance and learning remain unclear [1]. Differences in stimulation parameters, study design, and individual anatomy have all been proposed as factors explaining equivocal results [1]. Only recently have psychological factors, namely expectancy effects, been considered within tDCS research at large [[2], [3], [4]]. Based on well-established placebo mechanisms [5], it is plausible that one’s expectation of tDCS to improve motor performance could produce a sizeable placebo effect comparable to the actual treatment effect of tDCS. Thus, equivocal findings of tDCS within the motor domain could, in part, be attributed to variations in participant expectation of tDCS within and/or between experimental groups (i.e., active tDCS and sham tDCS groups). In general, participants’ prior experience or knowledge of a treatment can lead to expectancy effects [5]; however, there are virtually no data on expectancy effects of tDCS, nor on even what the general public’s expectations about the efficacy of tDCS are. We therefore surveyed expectations about whether tDCS could enhance motor performance, and explored whether these expectations varied by prior tDCS experience/knowledge, sex, and age."
Recommended Citation
Wang, P., Hooyman, A., Schambra, H. M., Lohse, K. R., & Schaefer, S. Y. (2021). Expectations from the general public about the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation for improving motor performance. Brain Stimulation, 14(3), 500-502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2021.03.005
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
This article was originally published in Brain Stimulation, volume 14, issue 3, in 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2021.03.005