ArticleAlzheimer's research & therapy2014
Transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation: treatments for cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in the neurodegenerative dementias?
Article in Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 80 papers, 9 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.
Improving Mobility and Cognition in Older Adults: Establishment of an Interdisciplinary Clinical Research Program Using Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation
Modulation of Episodic Memory Using Theta Burst Stimulation (TBS)
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 157 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sorting the mind: cognitive enhancement through transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation in semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia: a state-of-the-art review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of post-stroke depression: A systematic review.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- New Methods, Old Brains-A Systematic Review on the Effects of tDCS on the Cognition of Elderly People.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as a Useful Rehabilitation Strategy to Improve Cognition in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease: An Updated Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Non-invasive Brain Stimulation in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment-A State-of-the-Art Review on Methodological Characteristics and Stimulation Parameters.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- Occupational Neuroplasticity in the Human Brain: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- The modulation effect of non-invasive brain stimulation on cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC neuroscience · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Effect of online tDCS to left somatomotor cortex on neuropsychiatric symptoms among older adults at risk for dementia.Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Consecutive sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation do not remediate visual hallucinations in Lewy body dementia: a randomised controlled trial.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2019Trial
- Changes in cerebral glucose metabolism after 3 weeks of noninvasive electrical stimulation of mild cognitive impairment patients.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2016Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation as a memory enhancer in patients with Alzheimer's disease: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2016Trial
- Age-Related Differences in Neural Networks for Error Detection and Inhibitory Control: A LORETA-Based Comparative Study.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: Bridging mechanisms, management, and emerging innovations.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Review
- Article
- Role of Electroencephalographic Biomarkers as Predictors of Post-Stroke Cognitive Outcomes in Patients with Cerebral Infarction: Literature Review.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Review
- Integrating computational modeling, neuroimaging, and neuromodulation to decompose perceptual decision-making in healthy aging: a review of methods, findings, and gaps.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
20 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
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionTwo methods of non-invasive brain stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have demonstrable positive effects on cognition and can ameliorate neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression. Less is known about the efficacy of these approaches in common neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we evaluate the effects of TMS and tDCS upon cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in the major dementias, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), as well as the potential pre-dementia states of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Parkinson's disease (PD).
methodsPubMed (until 7 February 2014) and PsycINFO (from 1967 to January Week 3 2014) databases were searched in a semi-systematic manner in order to identify relevant treatment studies. A total of 762 studies were identified and 32 studies (18 in the dementias and 14 in PD populations) were included.
resultsNo studies were identified in patients with PDD, FTD or VaD. Of the dementias, 13 studies were conducted in patients with AD, one in DLB, and four in MCI. A total of 16 of the 18 studies showed improvements in at least one cognitive or neuropsychiatric outcome measure. Cognitive or neuropsychiatric improvements were observed in 12 of the 14 studies conducted in patients with PD.
conclusionsBoth TMS and tDCS may have potential as interventions for the treatment of symptoms associated with dementia and PD. These results are promising; however, available data were limited, particularly within VaD, PDD and FTD, and major challenges exist in order to maximise the efficacy and clinical utility of both techniques. In particular, stimulation parameters vary considerably between studies and are likely to subsequently impact upon treatment efficacy.
Identifiers
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.