Efeito da estimulação transcraniana por corrente continua (ETCC) no córtex préfrontal dorsolateral sobre a reprodução de intervalo de tempo

Abstract

There is evidence supporting the importance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the perception of time. The tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) modulates cortical excitability and can be applied to influence the performance of different brain functions, such as timing. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of stimulation of right and left DLPFC on a task of production of time. 26 patients underwent transcranial stimulation of 2mA over the DLPFC for 20 min (anodic, cathodic or sham). Then they participated in a reproduction task of 4 and 8 seconds. Through ANOVA for repeated measures for stimulating factors (anode, cathode, sham), intervals (4S and / or 8s) and location (left and right), we observed that the anodic stimulation of the right DLPFC resulted in greater underestimation in 4-seconds interval, while the use of cathodic current on the left DLPFC caused an overestimation of 4-seconds interval. Our results confirm the importance of the right DLPFC in the perception of time. Furthermore, the observed asymmetric effect is interesting, confirming that the left DLPFC is associated with the executive, important roles in perception of time.