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Category: Project

Description: The current study aims to investigate how non-invasive brain stimulation over the auditory cortex modulates recognition memory for melodies under different noise conditions, whilst also considering cumulative disruptive interference effects. Forty-one participants completed a continuous recognition melody task, as well as a visual control task, which included four noise conditions for which noise was either present only during encoding (N-C), only during retrieval (C-N), during both (N-N) or not at all (C-C) and completed the tasks after receiving anodal or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right auditory cortex (AC). The results of the sham session replicate previous findings by revealing that memory for melodies is worse when noise in added to the encoding phase (N-C) whereas the N-N condition shows good performance, highlighting a context effect, and that cumulative disruptive interference is not present in memory for melodies except when noise is added to the encoding phase. After anodal stimulation the memory pattern differs such as that memory performance is best when no noise is present in either encoding or retrieval (C-C) and furthermore the cumulative disruptive interference effect in the N-C condition diminished. The results suggest that anodal stimulation over the AC decouples the binding of the background noise to the target stimuli. For the visual control task this effect was not found. In sum, the study highlights the involvement of the right AC for memory for melodies and furthermore the results indicate the association of the AC for creating context effects in auditory memory processes.