Probing components of visuomotor plasticity - a tDCS study in prism adaptation

Prism adaptation (PA) is a classic paradigm used for investigating short-term visuomotor plasticity and involves two phases: an early phase (strategic calibration), where the finger endpoint error relative to the target is corrected, and a late phase (sensory realignment), where continued pointing after error correction supports the realignment of proprioceptive and visual maps, eliciting a prismatic after-effect following removal of the prisms. Although the cerebellum is deemed critical for PA, findings in neurological patients and one fMRI study in healthy individuals (Luauté et al., 2009) suggest that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and the superior temporal sulcus (STS) may play specific roles related to both phases. We used tDCS over PPC and STS to evaluate whether stimulation of these areas can selectively modulate strategic calibration and sensory realignment.