The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on social cognition in schizophrenia: A preliminary study

In this preliminary study, we examined the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on social cognition in 36 individuals with schizophrenia. Participants received a baseline assessment and one week later received either anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS, with 12 participants randomized to each condition. A single 20-minute session tDCS was administered bilaterally over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (centered at positions Fp1 and Fp2) at 2 mA. Among the 4 social cognitive tasks, participants showed a significant improvement on one of them, emotion identification, following anodal stimulation. Findings demonstrate the safety of this procedure and suggest potential therapeutic effects on one aspect of social cognition in schizophrenia.