Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16037080›Full record

Trial reportThe Journal of physiology2005

Non-synaptic mechanisms underlie the after-effects of cathodal transcutaneous direct current stimulation of the human brain.

G Ardolino, B Bossi, S Barbieri, A Priori

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · greenAbstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The Journal of physiology, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 150 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
150citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
8.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02116127 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2014, after this paper: background citation

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Depression in Pregnancy: A Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorWomen's College HospitalRan2014 to 2017Enrolled20ConditionsDepression, PregnancyArmsActive tDCS, Sham tDCS
NCT04780152 phase2 / phase3unknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Assessment of Efficacy and Safety of Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) in Pediatric and Teenage Patients With Major Depressive Disorder During COVID-19 Pandemics

TypeinterventionalSponsorEl Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia Manuel Velasco SuarezRan2021 to 2022Enrolled172ConditionsMajor Depressive DisorderArmsTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation, Placebo-simulation of transcranial direct current stimulation, Fluoxetine Tablets
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

150 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 428 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Systematic Review and Updated Meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
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  12. Effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on post-stroke dysphagia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2016
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  20. Boosting Learning Efficacy with Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Intact and Brain-Damaged Humans.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2019
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90 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

G ArdolinoDepartment of Neurological Sciences, Milan University Medical School, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Italy.
B Bossi
S Barbieri
A Priori
Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) decreases cortical excitability, the mechanisms underlying DC-induced changes remain largely unclear. In this study we investigated the effect of cathodal DC stimulation on spontaneous neural activity and on motor responses evoked by stimulation of the central and peripheral nervous system. We studied 17 healthy volunteers. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) of the motor area were used to study the effects of cathodal tDCS (1.5 mA, 10 min) on resting motor threshold and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded from the contralateral first dorsal interosseous muscle (FDI). The electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in response to cathodal tDCS was analysed by power spectral density (PSD). Motor axonal excitability changes in response to transcutaneous DC stimulation of the ulnar nerve (0.3 mA, 10 min) were assessed by testing changes in the size of the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) elicited by submaximal nerve stimulation. Cathodal tDCS over the motor area for 10 min increased the motor threshold and decreased the size of MEPs evoked by TMS for at least 60 min after current offset (t(0) 71.7 +/- 5%, t(20) 50.8 +/- 11%, t(40) 47.7 +/- 7.7%, and t(60) 39.7 +/- 6.4%, P < 0.01). The tDCS also significantly decreased the size of MEPs elicited by TES (t(0) 64 +/- 16.4%, P = 0.09; t(20) 67.6 +/- 10.8%, P = 0.06; and t(40) 58.3 +/- 9.9%, P < 0.05). At the same time in the EEG the power of delta (2-4 Hz) and theta (4-7 Hz) rhythms increased (delta 181.1 +/- 40.2, P < 0.05; and theta 138.7 +/- 27.6, P = 0.07). At the peripheral level cathodal DC stimulation increased the size of the ulnar nerve CMAP (175 +/- 34.3%, P < 0.05). Our findings demonstrate that the after-effects of tDCS have a non-synaptic mechanism of action based upon changes in neural membrane function. These changes apart from reflecting local changes in ionic concentrations, could arise from alterations in transmembrane proteins and from electrolysis-related changes in [H(+)] induced by exposure to constant electric field.

Indexed as

AdultAnalysis of VarianceElectroencephalographyEvoked Potentials, MotorFemaleFunctional LateralityHumansHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationMaleMotor CortexMovementMuscle, SkeletalNeural ConductionTranscutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationUlnar Nerve

Identifiers

PMID16037080
PMCPMC1474743
OpenAlexW2103312596

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.