ReviewFrontiers in human neuroscience2013
The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation: a role for cortical excitation/inhibition balance?
Review in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 132 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
132 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy of neuromodulation and rehabilitation approaches on pain relief in patients with spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in psychiatric disorders in early childhood (aged under 10 years): a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation in children and young people with psychiatric disorders: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Brain stimulation for patients with multiple sclerosis: an umbrella review of therapeutic efficacy.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Pooled it
- The use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques to improve reading difficulties in dyslexia: A systematic review.Human brain mapping · 2022Pooled it
- Magnetic resonance spectroscopy with transcranial direct current stimulation to explore the underlying biochemical and physiological mechanism of the human brain: A systematic review.Human brain mapping · 2021Pooled it
- Memory and Cognition-Related Neuroplasticity Enhancement by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Rodents: A Systematic Review.Neural plasticity · 2020Pooled it
- A Meta-Analysis of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Substance and Food Craving: What Effect Do Modulators Have?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Multisession transcranial direct current stimulation and aerobic exercise synergistically improve food craving symptoms, impulsivity, and cognitive flexibility in women with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modifies cortical excitability in middle-aged and older adults.Psychophysiology · 2025Trial
- Transcranial random noise stimulation combined with cognitive training for treating ADHD: a randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Non-invasive brain stimulation modulates GABAergic activity in neurofibromatosis 1.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- No effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on visual evoked potential and peak gamma frequency.Cognitive processing · 2022Trial
- Effects of High Definition-Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Local GABA and Glutamate Levels Among Older Adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Exploratory Study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2021Trial
- The Hypnotic Analgesia Suggestion Mitigated the Effect of the Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Descending Pain Modulatory System: A Proof of Concept Study.Journal of pain research · 2020Trial
- No Effect of Anodal tDCS on Verbal Episodic Memory Performance and Neurotransmitter Levels in Young and Elderly Participants.Neural plasticity · 2020Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) for social cognition and social skills in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2018Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation generates a transient increase of small-world in brain connectivity: an EEG graph theoretical analysis.Experimental brain research · 2018Trial
- Preliminary investigation of the effects of γ-tACS on working memory in schizophrenia.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2016Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex shifts preference of moral judgments.PloS one · 2015Trial
72 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool for cognitive enhancement and neurorehabilitation in clinical disorders in both cognitive and clinical domains (e.g., chronic pain, tinnitus). Here we suggest the potential role of tDCS in modulating cortical excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance and thereby inducing improvements. We suggest that part of the mechanism of action of tDCS can be explained by non-invasive modulations of the E/I balance.
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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.