In value-based decision making, people have to weigh different options based on their subjective value. This process, however, also is influenced by choice biases, such as choice repetition: in a series of choices, people are more likely to repeat their decision than to switch to a different choice. Previously, it was shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can affect such choice biases. We applied tDCS over the medial prefrontal cortex to investigate whether tDCS can alter choice repetition in value-based decision making. In a preregistered study, we applied anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS stimulation to 52 participants. While we found robust choice repetition effects, we did not find support for an effect of tDCS stimulation. We discuss these findings within the larger scope of the tDCS literature and highlight the potential roles of interindividual variability and current density strength.

在基于价值的决策中，人们必须根据自己的主观价值权衡不同的选择。然而，这个过程也受到选择偏差的影响，例如选择重复：在一系列选择中，人们更有可能重复他们的决定，而不是切换到不同的选择。以前，经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 会影响这种选择偏差。我们将 tDCS 应用于内侧前额叶皮层，以研究 tDCS 是否可以改变基于价值的决策中的选择重复。在一项预先注册的研究中，我们对 52 名参与者应用了阳极、阴极和假 tDCS 刺激。虽然我们发现了强大的选择重复效应，但我们没有找到对 tDCS 刺激效应的支持。