Prior neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies have found that the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) plays an important role in mental rotation ability. Transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown the potential to enhance cognitive ability by delivering a low current to the brain cortex of interest, via electrodes on the scalp. Here, we tested whether stimulating the PPC with tDCS can improve three-dimensional mental rotation performance and narrow gender difference. The classic three-dimensional Shepard–Metzler task was measured after three stimulation conditions (right PPC, left PPC, sham stimulation). The results indicated that stimulating the right PPC induced an improvement in accuracy and response time of mental rotation relative to sham stimulation. Stimulating the left PPC caused an enhancement in the accuracy but not in the response time. Gender difference during mental rotation was diminished after stimulation. These findings indicated that the PPC regions played a causal role in mental rotation ability. tDCS could be used as a promising non-invasive method to improve mental rotation skills in individuals with lower ability and to provide an effective therapeutic tool for neurological disorder rehabilitation.

先前的神经影像学和神经生理学研究发现，右后顶叶皮层 (PPC) 在心理旋转能力中起着重要作用。经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 已显示出通过头皮上的电极向感兴趣的大脑皮层输送低电流来增强认知能力的潜力。在这里，我们测试了用 tDCS 刺激 PPC 是否可以提高三维心理旋转性能并缩小性别差异。在三种刺激条件（右 PPC、左 PPC、假刺激）后测量经典的三维 Shepard-Metzler 任务。结果表明，与假刺激相比，刺激正确的 PPC 可提高心理旋转的准确性和响应时间。刺激左侧 PPC 会提高准确性，但不会提高响应时间。刺激后心理旋转过程中的性别差异减少。这些发现表明 PPC 区域在心理旋转能力中起着因果作用。tDCS 可以作为一种有前途的非侵入性方法来提高能力较低个体的心理旋转技能，并为神经障碍康复提供有效的治疗工具。