Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21509429›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neurology2011

Short- and long-lasting tinnitus relief induced by transcranial direct current stimulation.

Pierre Garin, Chantal Gilain, Jean-Philippe Van Damme, Katalin de Fays, Jacques Jamart, Michel Ossemann, Yves Vandermeeren

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neurology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06821893 (Vagus Auricular Stimulation for Tinnitus), which is not on this map. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.6field-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.

NCT06821893 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Vagus Auricular Stimulation for Tinnitus

TypeinterventionalSponsorWashington University School of MedicineRan2025 to 2025Enrolled40ConditionsTinnitusArmsVibrational stimulation, Sham
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Focal tDCS of auditory cortex in chronic tinnitus: A randomized controlled mechanistic trial.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
    Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Repeated sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation for treatment of chronic subjective tinnitus: a pilot randomized controlled trial.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2016
    Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Efficacy of non-invasive neuromodulation for chronic tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026
    Review
  12. Tinnitus Rehabilitation Through Electrical Stimulation as a Neuromodulation Method: A Scoping Review.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2025
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Pierre GarinCentre Universitaire d'Audiophonologie, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, CHU Mont-Godinne, Université Catholique de Louvain, Avenue Dr G. Therasse, 5530 Yvoir, Belgium.
Chantal Gilain
Jean-Philippe Van Damme
Katalin de Fays
Jacques Jamart
Michel Ossemann
Yves Vandermeeren
UCLouvain · BECHU Dinant Godinne UCL Namur · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A significant proportion of the population suffers from tinnitus, a bothersome auditory phantom perception that can severely alter the quality of life. Numerous experimental studies suggests that a maladaptive plasticity of the auditory and limbic cortical areas may underlie tinnitus. Accordingly, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been repeatedly used with success to reduce tinnitus intensity. The potential of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), another promising method of noninvasive brain stimulation, to relieve tinnitus has not been explored systematically. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled and balanced order design, 20 patients suffering from chronic untreatable tinnitus were submitted to 20 minutes of 1 mA anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS targeting the left temporoparietal area. The primary outcome measure was a change in tinnitus intensity or discomfort assessed with a Visual Analogic Scale (VAS) change-scale immediately after tDCS and 1 hour later. Compared to sham tDCS, anodal tDCS significantly reduced tinnitus intensity immediately after stimulation; whereas cathodal tDCS failed to do so. The variances of the tinnitus intensity and discomfort VAS change-scales increased dramatically after anodal and cathodal tDCS, whereas they remained virtually unchanged after sham tDCS. Moreover, several patients unexpectedly reported longer-lasting effects (at least several days) such as tinnitus improvement, worsening, or changes in tinnitus features, more frequently after real than sham tDCS. Anodal tDCS is a promising therapeutic tool for modulating tinnitus perception. Moreover, both anodal and cathodal tDCS seem able to alter tinnitus perception and could, thus, be used to trigger plastic changes.

Indexed as

AdultAgedChronic DiseaseDouble-Blind MethodElectrodesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedTinnitusTranscranial Magnetic StimulationYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID21509429
PMCPMC3214608
OpenAlexW2155716918

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.