The Effect of Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the verbal working memory in children with mild intellectual disabilities

One of the most important areas of cognitive impairment in children with intellectual disabilities is related to working memory. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation that has been studied as a way to increase cortical excitability and enhance working memory. This research aimed to analyze the efficacy of tDCS on verbal working memory of children with borderline intellectual functioning. The research method was quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with control group. The statistical population was children who visited the Atieh clinic and were diagnosed with mild mental disability based on clinical interview and Tehran-Stanford-Binet IQ scale. Through convenience sampling, 30 people were collected from this population and were assigned randomly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was provided 5 consecutive sessions of electrical stimulation in the Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex area with an intensity of 1 mA and a duration of 30 minutes. The data was analyzed using one-way ANCOVA and results illustrated that the Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) interventions has statistically meaningful positive effect on the verbal working memory of the children with borderline intellectual functioning