Trial reportArthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.)2015
Excitatory and inhibitory brain metabolites as targets of motor cortex transcranial direct current stimulation therapy and predictors of its efficacy in fibromyalgia.
Trial report in Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 5 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
48 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biomarker use in predicting transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) response: a systematic scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical, neurophysiological and neurochemical effects of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation in fibromyalgia syndrome-a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- Brain stimulation targets for chronic pain: Insights from meta-analysis, functional connectivity and literature review.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) on pain intensity of patients with fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC neurology · 2023Pooled 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
- High-definition tDCS over primary motor cortex modulates brain signal variability and functional connectivity in episodic migraine.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Trial
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signal Variability Is Associated With Neuromodulation in Fibromyalgia.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2023Trial
- Milnacipran poorly modulates pain in patients suffering from fibromyalgia: a randomized double-blind controlled study.Drug design, development and therapy · 2018Trial
- Differential effects of bifrontal and occipital nerve stimulation on pain and fatigue using transcranial direct current stimulation in fibromyalgia patients.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2017Trial
- Preliminary Evidence That Excitatory Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Extends Time to Task Failure of a Sustained, Submaximal Muscular Contraction in Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2016Trial
- Physical Modalities for the Treatment of Pain in Patients with Fibromyalgia.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2025Review
- Brain network pathophysiology in dystonia.Dystonia (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- The role of neurotransmitters in mediating the relationship between brain alterations and depressive symptoms in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.Human brain mapping · 2023Article
- Non-Invasive Electric and Magnetic Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Non-invasive brain stimulation for fibromyalgia: current trends and future perspectives.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- Cortical stimulation for chronic pain: from anecdote to evidence.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2022Review
- Serine, N-acetylaspartate differentiate adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis compared with healthy controls: a metabolomics cross-sectional study.Pediatric rheumatology online journal · 2022Article
- Neurometabolite Levels and Relevance to Central Sensitization in Chronic Orofacial Pain Patients: A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Pain reduction in fibromyalgia syndrome through pairing transcranial direct current stimulation and mindfulness meditation: A randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled pilot clinical trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 8 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to improve pain symptoms in fibromyalgia (FM), a central pain syndrome whose underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study was undertaken to explore the neurochemical action of tDCS in the brain of patients with FM, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS).
methodsTwelve patients with FM underwent sham tDCS over the left motor cortex (anode placement) and contralateral supraorbital cortex (cathode placement) for 5 consecutive days, followed by a 7-day washout period and then active tDCS for 5 consecutive days. Clinical pain assessment and 1H-MRS testing were performed at baseline, the week following the sham tDCS trial, and the week following the active tDCS trial.
resultsClinical pain scores decreased significantly between the baseline and active tDCS time points (P = 0.04). Levels of glutamate + glutamine (Glx) in the anterior cingulate were significantly lower at the post–active tDCS assessment compared with the post–sham tDCS assessment (P = 0.013), and the decrease in Glx levels in the thalami between these time points approached significance (P = 0.056). From baseline to the post–sham tDCS assessment, levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the posterior insula increased significantly (P = 0.015). There was a trend toward increased levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the anterior insula after active tDCS, compared with baseline (P = 0.064). Baseline anterior cingulate Glx levels correlated significantly with changes in pain score, both for the time period from baseline to sham tDCS (β1 = 1.31, P < 0.001) and for the time period from baseline to active tDCS (β1= 1.87, P < 0.001).
conclusionThe present findings suggest that GABA, Glx, and NAA play an important role in the pathophysiology of FM and its modulation by tDCS.
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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.