Examining decision-making using transcranial direct current stimulation

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One of the main symptoms of Major Depression is Anhedonia, or a reduced ability to experience pleasure. Anhedonia can reduce one’s motivation to engage in pleasurable activities as well reducing the sense of enjoyment they experience from activities that would typically give them pleasure. As such, it is likely that anhedonia can influence our day-to-day decision-making choices as well. Prior research has shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS; a research tool that involves applying low-voltage electrical stimulation to electrodes placed on the scalp) can alter cognitive processing and decision-making in humans. The goal of the present study is to investigate how tDCS to part of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) can influence economic and social decision-making behaviour in individuals with anhedonia. By comparing the effects of tDCS on healthy people with varying levels of anhedonia, we hope to better understand the role of the DLPFC in decision-making, and how this is modulate by anhedonic symptoms. The use of electroencephalography (EEG; a research tool that involves recording brain waves from electrodes placed on the scalp), in this study may help us gain a better understanding of the neurological basis of decision-making, and how this is affected by anhedonia. The hypotheses of the study are that participants receiving tDCS treatment designed to simultaneously increase activity on the right side of their brain and decrease activity on the left side of their brain will (compared to participants receiving tDCS treatment designed to simultaneously decrease activity on the right side of their brain and increase acitivitry on the left side of their brain), be more willing to accept unfair offers to distribute a sum of money and less willing to place a risky bet when playing a gambling game. We also hypothesize that variations in participants' anhedonia levels will affect their behaviour in these tasks; individuals with higher anhedonia levels are hypothesised to show increased acceptance of unfair offers and a decreased willingness to play a risky bet.

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