RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Time Course of Ineffective Sham Blinding During 1mA tDCS
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 462424
DO 10.1101/462424
A1 Robert Greinacher
A1 Larissa Buhôt
A1 Lisa Möller
A1 Gemma Learmonth
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/11/05/462424.abstract
AB Background Studies using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) typically compare the effects of an active (10-30min) relative to a shorter sham (placebo) protocol. Both active and sham tDCS are presumed to be perceptually identical on the scalp, and thus represent an effective method of delivering double-blinded experimental designs. However, participants often show above-chance accuracy when asked which condition involved active/sham retrospectively.Objective/Hypothesis We aimed to assess the time course of sham-blinding during active and sham tDCS. We predicted that 1) Participants will be aware that the current is switched on for a longer duration in the active versus the sham protocol, 2) Active anodal tDCS will reduce reaction times more effectively than sham.Methods 32 adults were tested in a pre-registered, double-blinded, within-subjects design. A forced-choice reaction time task was undertaken before, during and after active (10min 1mA) and sham (20s 1mA) tDCS. The anode was placed over the left primary motor cortex (C3) to target the right hand, and the cathode on the right forehead. Two probe questions were asked every 30s: “Is the stimulation on? “and “How sure are you?”.Results Distinct periods of non-overlapping confidence intervals were identified between the active and sham conditions, totalling 5min (57.1% of the total difference in stimulation time). These began immediately after sham ramp-down and lasted until the active protocol had ended. Active tDCS had no effect on reaction times compared to sham (ΔRT active vs sham p>0.38 in all blocks).Conclusions We show a failure of placebo control during low-intensity tDCS.