Background and Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on improving selective attention and processing speed in students with specific learning disabilities in Zahedan.
Methods: This quasi-experimental research utilized a pretest-posttest design with control and experimental groups. The statistical population comprised all students with specific learning disabilities (dyslexia, dysgraphia, and mathematics learning disorder) in Zahedan who was referred to counselling centers in the 2023-2024 academic year. From this population, 30 students (18 girls and 12 boys) were selected using a convenience sampling method and matched based on gender, age, and GPA. Then, they were divided into control and experimental groups (15 students each). The experimental group received 10 sessions of 20-minute tDCS, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups responded to the Stroop Color-Word Test and the Roth & Oswald (1978) Processing Speed Test before and after the intervention. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multivariate covariance analysis) with SPSS26 software.
Results: The findings indicated a significant difference in the mean scores between the experimental and control groups after the intervention (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The results demonstrated that tDCS effectively improves selective attention and processing speed in students with specific learning disabilities.