Schedule of Events | Symposia

Sketchpad Series

The potential moderating role of estrogen in effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on working memory

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Samantha Walsh¹, Alexandra Gaynor¹; ¹Montclair State University

Effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive performance are known to be highly variable, and there is growing evidence that individual differences in endogenous brain activity may account for much of the heterogeneity in response to stimulation. Higher estrogen levels in females have been associated with increased cortical excitability, but no research to date has tested whether endogenous estrogen levels moderate the effects of tDCS on cognitive performance. In a within-subjects experiment, 24 healthy female participants, 18-35 years old with normal menstrual cycles, completed an n-back working memory task while high-definition tDCS was applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Across four sessions, participants received 20 min of anodal active (2mA) or sham tDCS during the late luteal (low estrogen) or late follicular (high estrogen) phase of their menstrual cycle. Data collection is ongoing. We hypothesize that tDCS over the DLPFC will have a greater effect on working memory performance during the late follicular phase compared to the late luteal phase, suggesting a moderating role of dynamic estrogen levels in cognitive effects of tDCS. Results will contribute to our understanding of individual differences in cognitive outcomes of tDCS, and inform the development of interventions that optimize potential benefit for female populations, such as tailoring stimulation protocols to align with menstrual cycle phases.

Topic Area: METHODS: Other