Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24167483›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in human neuroscience2013

Effects of weak transcranial alternating current stimulation on brain activity-a review of known mechanisms from animal studies.

Davide Reato, Asif Rahman, Marom Bikson, Lucas C Parra

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

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 173 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
173citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

173 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Cutaneous Alternating Current Stimulation Can Cause a Phasic Modulation of Speech Perception.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
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113 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.

Davide ReatoDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of The City University of New York New York, USA.
Asif Rahman
Marom Bikson
Lucas C Parra

Funding

CRCNS: Effects of Weak Applied Currents on Memory Consolidation During SleepR01MH092926 · NIMH · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI PARRA, LUCAS C · 2010 to 2014
$618k
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH092926
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rhythmic neuronal activity is ubiquitous in the human brain. These rhythms originate from a variety of different network mechanisms, which give rise to a wide-ranging spectrum of oscillation frequencies. In the last few years an increasing number of clinical research studies have explored transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with weak current as a tool for affecting brain function. The premise of these interventions is that tACS will interact with ongoing brain oscillations. However, the exact mechanisms by which weak currents could affect neuronal oscillations at different frequency bands are not well known and this, in turn, limits the rational optimization of human experiments. Here we review the available in vitro and in vivo animal studies that attempt to provide mechanistic explanations. The findings can be summarized into a few generic principles, such as periodic modulation of excitability, shifts in spike timing, modulation of firing rate, and shifts in the balance of excitation and inhibition. These effects result from weak but simultaneous polarization of a large number of neurons. Whether this can lead to an entrainment or a modulation of brain oscillations, or whether AC currents have no effect at all, depends entirely on the specific dynamic that gives rise to the different brain rhythms, as discussed here for slow wave oscillations (∼1 Hz) and gamma oscillations (∼30 Hz). We conclude with suggestions for further experiments to investigate the role of AC stimulation for other physiologically relevant brain rhythms.

Indexed as

animal modelselectroencephalogram (EEG)entrainmentgammaoscillationsslow wavetranscranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Identifiers

PMID24167483
PMCPMC3805939

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Registered trials

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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.