Consensus: Can transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation enhance motor learning and memory formation?

Janine Reis, Edwin M. Robertson, John W. Krakauer, John Rothwell, Lisa Marshall, Christian Gerloff, Eric M. Wassermann, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Friedhelm Hummel, Pablo A. Celnik, Joseph Classen, Agnes Floel, Ulf Ziemann, Walter Paulus, Hartwig R. Siebner, Jan Born, Leonardo G. Cohen

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

180 Scopus citations

Abstract

Noninvasive brain stimulation has developed as a promising tool for cognitive neuroscientists. Transcranial magnetic (TMS) and direct current (tDCS) stimulation allow researchers to purposefully enhance or decrease excitability in focal areas of the brain. The purpose of this article is to review information on the use of TMS and tDCS as research tools to facilitate motor memory formation, motor performance, and motor learning in healthy volunteers. Studies implemented so far have mostly focused on the ability of TMS and tDCS to elicit relatively short-lasting motor improvements and the mechanisms underlying these changes have been only partially investigated. Despite limitations, including the scarcity of data, work that has been already accomplished raises the exciting hypothesis that currently available noninvasive transcranial stimulation techniques could modulate motor learning and memory formation in healthy humans and potentially in patients with neurologic and psychiatric disorders.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)363-369
Number of pages7
JournalBrain Stimulation
Volume1
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2008

Keywords

  • learning
  • motor
  • stroke
  • transcranial direct current stimulation
  • transcranial magnetic stimulation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Biophysics
  • General Neuroscience

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