Mind the social feedback: effects of tDCS applied to the left DLPFC on psychophysiological responses during the anticipation and reception of social evaluations. Issue 1 (13th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Allaert, Jens; De Raedt, Rudi; Sanchez-Lopez, Alvaro; Baeken, Chris; Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne
• Is Part Of: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience. Volume 17:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 131
• Page End: 141
• Publication Date: 2020-05-13
• Subjects: transcranial direct current stimulation -- dorsolateral prefrontal cortex -- anticipation -- emotional processing -- skin conductance response -- pupillary response; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Cognitive neuroscience -- Periodicals; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; 612.8205
• DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa066
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-5016

Abstract

Abstract: The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) is implicated in anticipatory (i.e. during anticipation of emotional stimuli) and online (i.e. during confrontation with emotional stimuli) emotion regulatory processes. However, research that investigates the causal role of the lDLPFC in these processes is lacking. In this study, 74 participants received active or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the lDLPFC. Participants were told strangers evaluated them. These (rigged) social evaluations were presented, and in 50% of the trials, participants could anticipate the valence (positive or negative) of the upcoming social feedback. Pupil dilation (a marker of cognitive resource allocation) and skin conductance responses (a marker of arousal) were measured. The results indicate that active (compared to sham) tDCS reduced arousal during the confrontation with anticipated feedback but only marginally during the confrontation with unanticipated feedback. When participants were given the opportunity to anticipate the social feedback, tDCS reduced arousal, irrespective of whether one was anticipating or being confronted with the anticipated feedback. Moreover, tDCS reduced cognitive resource allocation during anticipation, which was associated with resource allocation increases during the subsequent confrontation. Altogether, results suggest that the lDLPFC is causally implicated in the interplay between anticipatory and online emotion regulatory processes.