Improving peripheral reading with non-invasive transcranial electrical stimulation of early visual areas

Abstract

We investigated the ability of two non-invasive transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) protocols targeting early visual areas to improve peripheral visual word recognition in separate within-subject, double-blind, sham-controlled experiments with normal observers. English sentences were presented 10 degrees below fixation using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) applied bilaterally on either size of the occipital pole (Oz) elicited a significant performance benefit, but transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to Oz did not. These results highlight important factors that may influence the effectiveness of non-invasive brain stimulation methods for enhancing peripheral processing of text, such as stimulation type. While more work is necessary to better understand the relationship between tES and peripheral reading, the present results contribute to the growing body of work implicating tES as a potential tool for enhancing peripheral visual processing.