Date of Award

Summer 8-1-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Ted Maldonado

Second Advisor

Jennifer Schriver

Third Advisor

Liz O'Laughlin

Abstract

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders in the U.S. Individuals of all ages are affected by anxiety. Therefore, research into anxiety and its potential treatment has constantly been an area of interest. Newer approaches to managing anxiety include non-invasive stimulation techniques, such as Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), because of its accessibility and effectiveness. Past tDCS work typically focused on regions in the frontal lobe. However, tDCS over the cerebellum has not received as much attention compared to the cerebrum, despite recent work demonstrating cerebellar involvement in emotion processing. Thus, a better understanding of how cerebellar tDCS affects anxiety could have wide reaching implications. This review discusses anxiety and its treatments, with a focus on how cerebellar tDCS may influence anxiety and its broader implications. We proposed anodal current stimulation over the cerebellum would decrease anxiety ratings due to the inhibitory nature of the network involved. Overall, the findings suggested that cerebellar stimulation may differentially influence anxiety depending on individual characteristics such as anxiety severity and working memory capacity. These results provided initial support for the cerebellum’s potential role in emotional regulation but requires further investigation into cerebellar tDCS as a possible adjunctive treatment for anxiety disorders. This could significantly contribute to our understanding and management of this prevalent mental health disorder.

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