Bianca A. Simonsmeier

Electrical brain stimulation (tES) improves learning more than performance: A meta-analysis

HighlightsThis is the first meta‐analysis comparing transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) of learning vs. of test performance.The meta‐analytic results show that tES improves learning and performance on practically (e.g. school‐) relevant tasks.tES before or during a learning phase has a much stronger effect than tES before or during an assessment.The overall effect of tES is dosage‐specific and shows consistently for a variety of measures and tasks.The meta‐analytic results support the view that tES enhances long‐term synaptic learning. ABSTRACT Researchers have recently started evaluating whether stimulating the brain noninvasively with a weak and painless electrical current (transcranial Electrical Stimulation, tES) enhances physiological and cognitive processes. Some studies found that tES has weak but positive effects on brain physiology, cognition, or assessment performance, which has attracted massive public interest. We present the first meta‐analytic test of the hypothesis that tES in a learning phase is more effective than tES in an assessment phase. The meta‐analysis included 246 effect sizes from studies on language or mathematical competence. The effect of tES was stronger when stimulation was administered during a learning phase (d = 0.712) as compared to stimulation administered during test performance (d = 0.207). The overall effect was stimulation‐dosage specific and, as found in a previous meta‐analysis, significant only for anodal stimulation and not for cathodal. The results provide evidence for the modulation of long‐term synaptic plasticity by tES in the context of practically relevant learning tasks and highlight the need for more systematic evaluations of tES in educational settings.

Interrelations of Imagery Use, Imagery Ability, and Performance in Young Athletes

The present study aimed to provide a better understanding of the relationship between imagery use, imagery ability, the interrelation between these two constructs, and athletic performance for young athletes. Participants were 80 gymnasts between 7 and 16 years of age. We assessed 5 different functions of imagery use and imagery ability regarding cognitive and motivational imagery. Cognitive specific imagery use, motivational general-mastery imagery use, and goal imagery ability significantly predicted performance at competition, independent of the athletes’ age. Consequently, it is useful to support young athletes’ imagery use and imagery ability systematically in order to improve their learning processes and sports performance.

The Effects of Motor Imagery Training on Performance and Mental Representation of 7-to 15-Year-Old Gymnasts of Different Levels of Expertise

Imagery training with adult athletes is widely used to improve performance. One underlying mechanism is the optimization of mental movement representations. However, past research has focused mainly on adults and has left open for further research on whether imagery also improves mental representations and performance in young athletes. The present study examined these questions in a sample of 56 female gymnasts aged 7 to 15 years. In a cross-over experimental design (imagery first vs. imagery last), regular training with imagery was compared with regular training only in high- versus low-expertise athletes. The 4-week long imagery training had positive effects on performance only for the high-expertise athletes in the imagery-last condition. The results of the Structural Dimensional Analysis of Mental Representation method regarding changes in the mental representations were inconsistent. Thus, imagery training can promote motor learning in young athletes only under some conditions. We discuss possible reasons for the heterogeneous results and ways for improving the strength and reliability of the intervention effects.