Brain stimulation improves cognitive control by modulating medial-frontal activity and preSMA-vmPFC functional connectivity

Previous research has demonstrated that brain stimulation can improve inhibitory control. However, the neural mechanisms underlying such artificially induced improvement remain unclear. In this study, by coupling anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) with functional MRI, we found that atDCS over preSMA effectively improved stopping speed, which was associated with increased BOLD response in the preSMA and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Furthermore, such atDCS-induced BOLD increase in vmPFC was positively correlated with participants' improvement in stopping efficiency, and the functional connectivity between preSMA and vmPFC increased during successful stop. These results suggest that the rapid behavioral improvement from preSMA brain stimulation involves modulated medial-frontal activity and preSMA-vmPFC functional connectivity.