OBJECTIVE: To clarify the promoting effect of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at the individual alpha frequency (IAF) of the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) on working memory (WM) using combined behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) detection techniques. METHODS: This study is a single-blind, randomized, crossover, controlled trial with three groups: the IAF group, the IAF-1 group, and the sham group. WM was assessed using the n-back task, while EEG signals were simultaneously collected. Behavioral and EEG-related indicators pre and post stimulation were compared. RESULTS: Compared with pre-stimulation, the average reaction time (RT) in the n-back task significantly decreased (p 0.05). No significant correlations were found in the IAF-1 group or the sham group (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: IAF-tACS specially improved the high-load WM performance in healthy participants through increased P300 amplitude in the frontocentral region, which provides a brand-new strategy for precise regulation in the future. Further research are needed to confirm its clinical application.
Wang et al. (2026) studied this question.