ReviewFrontiers in human neuroscience2013
Putative physiological mechanisms underlying tDCS analgesic effects.
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 32 papers, 2 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
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on patient-reported outcomes in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled 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
- Trial
- Modulation of central pain mechanisms using high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation: A double-blind, sham-controlled study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Patient-Controlled Intravenous Morphine Analgesia Combined with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Post-Thoracotomy Pain: A Cost-Effectiveness Study and A Feasibility For Its Future Implementation.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Clinically Effective Treatment of Fibromyalgia Pain With High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Phase II Open-Label Dose Optimization.The journal of pain · 2016Trial
- Investigation of central nervous system dysfunction in chronic pelvic pain using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and noninvasive brain stimulation.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2015Trial
- Effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation preceding cognitive behavioural management for chronic low back pain: sham controlled double blinded randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2015Trial
- Neuromodulation strategies in postburn care for pain rehabilitation and scar remodelling.Communications medicine · 2026Review
- Emerging Nonpharmacologic Analgesic Technologies in Anesthesia: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Future Directions for Pharmacologic Alternatives.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Comparative Efficacy of Invasive and Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Techniques for Chronic Central and Peripheral Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Diabetes: A Focused and Mechanistic Review of Symptom and Function Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Article
- Effect of Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Intensity of Post-dural Puncture Headache: Results of Two Randomized Sham Controlled Trials.Neurology and therapy · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Neuromodulation in Postoperative Pain Management Following Spine Surgery: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Deciphering the functional role of insular cortex stratification in trigeminal neuropathic pain.The journal of headache and pain · 2024Review
- Delivery of an at-home transcranial direct current stimulation intervention to mitigate pain in patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving hemodialysis (ESKD/HD).Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Role of Expectation and Beliefs on the Effects of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- Transcranial direct current stimulation for spinal cord injury-associated neuropathic pain.The Korean journal of pain · 2021Review
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 at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that induces changes in excitability, and activation of brain neurons and neuronal circuits. It has been observed that beyond regional effects under the electrodes, tDCS also alters activity of remote interconnected cortical and subcortical areas. This makes the tDCS stimulation technique potentially promising for modulation of pain syndromes. Indeed, utilizing specific montages, tDCS resulted in analgesic effects in experimental settings, as well as in post-operative acute pain and chronic pain syndromes. The promising evidence of tDCS-induced analgesic effects raises the challenging and complex question of potential physiologic mechanisms that underlie/mediate the accomplished pain relief. Here we present hypotheses on how the specific montages and targets for stimulation may affect the pain processing network.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.