Proceedings #19: Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over Prefrontal Cortex for Decision Making During Approach Avoidance Conflict

Increased activity in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) may contribute to anxiety-related symptoms and has been discussed as a neurobehavioral target of anxiolytic treatments aiming to decrease avoidance behavior. Previously, we have shown that for individuals with high anxiety sensitivity excitatory right (but not left or sham) dlPFC transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) elicited measurable decreases in approach behavior during conflict. Here we used inhibitory tDCS over right dlPFC with concurrent excitation of left dlPFC to examine the consequences of this type of neuromodulation for approach-avoidance conflict decision-making. The results did not support our predictions, suggesting a possible asymmetry between anodal and cathodal stimulation for the modulation of anxiety-related symptomatology.