Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Cognitive Flexibility, Problem Solving and Brain Processing Speed in Students
Overcoming problems and solving them, and maintaining mental and physical health in life, is very important. By improving cognitive abilities and increasing the processing speed of the mind, it is possible to improve the quality and health of life throughout life. The main goal of this research is to investigate the effect of transcranial direct current electrical stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive flexibility, problem solving and brain processing speed in students. This research was conducted as a semi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test and a one-month follow-up phase. In this research, 30 people were selected as a sample using the purposeful sampling method and they were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The tDCS test group was subjected to electrical stimulation during two weeks and in 10 sessions, with a current intensity of 2 milliamps and for 20 minutes. At first, after finishing the stimulation program, and also one month later, tests of cognitive flexibility, problem solving and brain processing speed were taken from both groups and the results were analyzed using covariance test with repeated measurements. Based on the obtained results, it was observed that the difference between the groups is significant and indicates a positive and significant effect of intracranial direct current stimulation on cognitive flexibility, problem solving and brain processing speed. Also, according to the one-month follow-up phase, the mentioned effects are stable.