Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (atDCS) of the Primary Motor Cortex (M1) Facilitates Nonconscious Error Correction of Negative Phase Shifts

Figure 2

(a) Task and (b) study design. (a) After 10 isochronous auditory pacing signals, a step-change () was introduced that was either conscious (1, 2) or nonconscious (3, 4). Step-changes were either positive (1, 3) or negative (2, 4). Each block (1–4) was presented three times in a randomized order. The four taps preceding the step-change () were averaged separately for each experimental condition as a measure of baseline synchronization performance. (b) After providing written informed consent, the participants were prepared for tDCS and performed a training block. Then, prestimulation performance was tested, and subsequently, tDCS was applied to the left M1 either with anodal polarity for 10 minutes or in a sham-condition for 30 seconds. Thereafter, post-tDCS performance was measured, and finally, the type of stimulation as well as possible tDCS-related adverse effects was determined by questionnaire.

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