Anodal tDCS of the left inferior parietal cortex enhances memory for correct information without affecting recall of misinformation

Céline C. Haciahmet, Maximilian A. Friehs, Christian Frings, Bernhard Pastötter*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
21 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

False memories during testimony are an enormous challenge for criminal trials. Exposure to post-event misinformation can lead to inadvertent creation of false memories, known as the misinformation effect. We investigated anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) during recall testing to enhance accurate recall while addressing the misinformation effect. Participants (N = 60) watched a television series depicting a fictional terrorist attack, then received an audio recording with misinformation, consistent information, and control information. During cued recall testing, participants received anodal or sham tDCS. Results revealed a robust misinformation effect in both groups, with participants falsely recalling on average 26.6% of the misinformed items. Bayesian statistics indicated substantial evidence in favour of the null hypothesis that there was no difference between groups in the misinformation effect. Regarding correct recall however, the anodal group exhibited significantly improved recall for items from the original video. Together, these results demonstrate that anodal tDCS of the left IPL enhances correct recall of the episodes from the original event without affecting false recall of misinformation. The findings support the IPL's role in recollection and source attribution of episodic memories.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1371-1380
Number of pages10
JournalMemory
Volume32
Issue number10
Early online date14 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Nov 2024

Keywords

  • anodal tDCS
  • episodic memory
  • inferior parietal lobe
  • Misinformation effect
  • transcranial direct current stimulation

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