Noninvasive brain stimulation provides a potential tool for affecting
brain functions in the typical and atypical brain and
offers in several cases an alternative to
pharmaceutical intervention. Some studies have suggested that
transcranial electrical
stimulation (TES), a form of noninvasive brain
stimulation, can also be used to enhance cognitive performance.
Critically,
research so far has primarily focused on
optimizing protocols for effective stimulation, or assessing potential
physical side
effects of TES while neglecting the possibility
of cognitive side effects. We assessed this possibility by targeting the
high-level
cognitive abilities of learning and automaticity
in the mathematical domain. Notably, learning and automaticity
represent
critical abilities for potential cognitive
enhancement in typical and atypical populations. Over 6 d, healthy human
adults
underwent cognitive training on a new numerical
notation while receiving TES to the posterior parietal cortex or the
dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex. Stimulation to the the
posterior parietal cortex facilitated numerical learning, whereas
automaticity for
the learned material was impaired. In contrast,
stimulation to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex impaired the learning
process,
whereas automaticity for the learned material
was enhanced. The observed double dissociation indicates that cognitive
enhancement
through TES can occur at the expense of other
cognitive functions. These findings have important implications for the
future
use of enhancement technologies for
neurointervention and performance improvement in healthy populations.
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