Effects of transcranial electrical stimulation on episodic memory in physiological and pathological ageing.
Abstract
Memory for personally past events (episodic memory) is critical for activities of daily living. Decline in this type of declarative long-term memory is a common characteristic of healthy ageing, a process accelerated in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) has been used as a strategy to ameliorate episodic memory. Here, we critically review studies investigating whether tES may improve episodic memory in physiological and pathological ageing. Evidence suggests that tES over the prefrontal or temporoparietal cortices can be beneficial in healthy older adults or individuals at risk of developing AD. The studies in AD patients do not provide sufficient evidence for a recommendation for the use of multiple sessions of tES to improve episodic memory. More work is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of tES and optimizing the dosing of stimulation. Future studies should also investigate the optimal timing of stimulation and the combination with medications to induce long-lasting beneficial effects in pathological ageing. More open science efforts to improve rigor and reliability will be essential to answering these questions.
PMID: 32275953 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Ageing Res Rev. 2020 Apr 07;:101065
Authors: Sandrini M, Manenti R, Sahin H, Cotelli M
