Taḥqīqāt-i ̒Ulūm-i Raftārī (Jul 2018)
The Role of Dorsolateral and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex of Brain in Emotional and Non-Emotional Inhibitory Control: Evidence from Direct Current Stimulation
Abstract
Aim and Background: Accurate and flexible inhibitory control of automatic, cognitive, and emotional responses for adaptive behavior at the time of unpredictable events is a basic requirement of the daily life. The deficit in this executive function is the core of several disorders such as attention deficit- hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and substance abuse. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the function of interferential inhibitory control and former reward inhibitory control at the presence of emotional and non-emotional stimuli through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Methods and Materials: 20 volunteer subjects with the mean age of 21.7 years (age range: 19-30 years) were investigated in three status including anodal stimulation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anodal stimulation of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and pseudo-stimulation through Stroop and go/no go tests that were used for assessing interferential inhibitory control and former reward inhibitory control, respectively. Findings: Stroop test showed a significant difference in accuracy of Stroop task performance (P 0.050). The results of go/no go test also showed an insignificant difference both in response accuracy (P > 0.050) and in time of response (P > 0.050). Conclusions: Considering the involvement of two different brain structures in emotional processing and inhibitory control, stimulating one structure for simultaneous improvement of these two functions is not effective, and more evidence is needed for simultaneous improvement of inhibition and emotion.
