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Testing the causal role of traveling waves in short-term memory with tDCS

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Jenna N. Pablo¹ (), Arianna Thoksakis¹, Ali Caron¹, Marian E. Berryhill¹, Edward F. Ester¹; ¹University of Nevada, Reno

Cortical traveling waves (TW) characterize synchronous neural activity across the cortex and predict successful visual short-term memory (VSTM). Prior findings show that response initiation is accompanied by feedforward posterior-anterior theta TW predicting intra- and inter-individual differences in motor response onset. Additionally, a feedback anterior-posterior beta TW emerges after a response. Here, we test whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can significantly modulate TW dynamics and confirm causal effects on VSTM. Participants (n=13, planned 24) received left- or right-hemisphere tDCS in 3 sessions, counterbalancing condition: anterior-to-posterior, posterior-to-anterior, sham. Each session, unilateral tDCS (2 mA, 20 minutes) was applied before participants completed a VSTM task. Each trial, two colored, tilted bars appeared to the right and left of fixation (250 ms). A probe color cue indicated which hand the participant should use to reproduce the orientation of the probe-colored bar. Across 432 trials, EEG was recorded bilaterally along occipito-frontal axes to measure TW. We predicted that anterior-to-posterior tDCS would enhance TW and improve VSTM, whereas posterior-to-anterior tDCS would impair performance. To date, the preliminary results show hemispheric differences in reaction time and precision, regardless of stimulation direction. EEG analyses are underway to determine how tDCS influences the strength and latency of the TW. These results will clarify the causal nature of TW in VSTM and establish how directional tDCS can alter cognition.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Working memory