Experimental Use of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Relation to the Cerebellum and Language

Citation

Argyropoulos GPD (2016) Experimental Use of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Relation to the Cerebellum and Language. In: Argyropoulos G (ed.) The Linguistic Cerebellum. Elsevier, pp. 377-407. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-801608-4.00015-3

Abstract
Despite the increasing employment of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on both healthy and clinical populations, its use in exploring cerebellar contributions to language remains in its infancy. This chapter first provides a brief overview of the operating principles of tDCS and its mechanisms of action on the cerebellum. It then highlights the methodological advantages of cerebellar tDCS for the investigation of language processing over patient studies, correlational methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, as well as over other noninvasive brain stimulation methods, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation. It then discusses the effects of cerebellar tDCS demonstrated on both language per se and on cognitive processes closely interfacing with language. The chapter concludes with the discussion of a series of outstanding questions and experimental hypotheses in the investigation of cerebellar contributions to language processing using tDCS.

Keywords
Aphasia; Cerebellar brain inhibition; Cerebellum; Language; Prediction; Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS); Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); Verbal working memory