tDCS and the Gaze Cueing Effect

Influence of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Applied to the Right Orbitofrontal Cortex on Gaze and Arrow Cueing Effects

This study employs transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in processing gaze and arrow cues.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: tDCS; Cues Type; SOA; Congruency
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Gaze cues; Behavioral: Arrow cues; Behavioral: SOA 200 ms; Behavioral: SOA 600 ms; Behavioral: Congruent; Behavioral: Incongruent

Detailed Description

This study employs transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in processing gaze and arrow cues.To examine the distinct functions of the OFC in processing social versus non-social stimuli, participants were randomly assigned to one of three tDCS groups: anodal, cathodal, or sham. Following stimulation, all participants completed a spatial cueing task involving both gaze and arrow cues. Two stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) conditions (200 ms and 600 ms) were implemented to investigate how timing modulates the processing of these cues within the rOFC.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Sichuan
    • Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 611731
      • School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of head injury
• no implants in the head
• medical or psychiatric illness.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: anodal tDCS; anodal tDCS rOFC	Behavioral: Gaze cues; use eye gaze images as cues; Behavioral: Arrow cues; use arrow images as cues; Behavioral: SOA 200 ms; The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cue and the target was 200 ms.; Behavioral: SOA 600 ms; The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cue and the target was 600 ms.; Behavioral: Congruent; The cue is spatially congruent with the target.; Behavioral: Incongruent; The cue is spatially incongruent with the target.
Experimental: cathodal tDCS; cathodal tDCS rOFC	Behavioral: Gaze cues; use eye gaze images as cues; Behavioral: Arrow cues; use arrow images as cues; Behavioral: SOA 200 ms; The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cue and the target was 200 ms.; Behavioral: SOA 600 ms; The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cue and the target was 600 ms.; Behavioral: Congruent; The cue is spatially congruent with the target.; Behavioral: Incongruent; The cue is spatially incongruent with the target.
Sham Comparator: sham tDCS; sham tDCS rOFC	Behavioral: Gaze cues; use eye gaze images as cues; Behavioral: Arrow cues; use arrow images as cues; Behavioral: SOA 200 ms; The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cue and the target was 200 ms.; Behavioral: SOA 600 ms; The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cue and the target was 600 ms.; Behavioral: Congruent; The cue is spatially congruent with the target.; Behavioral: Incongruent; The cue is spatially incongruent with the target.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reaction time to the judgment of the target location.	The primary analysis focused on the reaction times for judging the target location under each condition.	1 hour

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Magnitude of the cueing effect	This index is derived by subtracting the congruent reaction time from the incongruent reaction time to quantify the magnitude of the cueing effect.	1 hour

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 2, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): December 8, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 23, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 11, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 18, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 18, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 11, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: transcranial direct current stimulation; orbitofrontal cortex; gaze cueing effect
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Health Services Administration; Delivery of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Patient Care Management; Culturally Competent Care
• Other Study ID Numbers: UESTC-GazeLab-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No