Transcranial electrical stimulation modulates emotional experience and metabolites in the prefrontal cortex in a donation task

Abstract

In this study we investigated whether transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) applied to two prefrontal cortex regions, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC, anode) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, cathode) can be used to induce changes in self-reported emotions and modulate metabolite concentrations under both electrodes. We employed in vivo quantitative MR Spectroscopy (MRS) in healthy adult participants and quantified the changes in GABA and Glx complex (Glutamate and Glutamine) before and after five sessions of tDCS stimulation. tDCS was delivered at 2mA intensity for 20 minutes for the active group and 1 minute for the sham group. tDCS was applied over five days while participants were engaged in a charitable donation task, known to engage the reward network. We observed increased levels of GABA in vmPFC, but not in DLPFC. Glx levels were decreased in both vmPFC and DLPFC. We found that self-reported happiness increased significantly over time only in the active group. There was a decrease in self-reported guiltiness in both active and sham groups. Altogether, the results indicate that self-reported emotions can be modulated by prefrontal stimulation. This may be because the changes in GABA and Glx concentrations following repeated stimulation induce remote changes in the reward network through interactions with other metabolites, previously thought to be unreachable with noninvasive stimulation techniques.