Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26814276›Full record

Trial reportPain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2016

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Targeting Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Modulates Task-Induced Acute Pain in Healthy Volunteers.

Timothy Y Mariano, Mascha Van't Wout, Sarah L Garnaat, Steven A Rasmussen, Benjamin D Greenberg

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
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

18 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Effects on cognition of 20-day anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in patients affected by mild cognitive impairment: a case-control study.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2019
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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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Timothy Y Mariano*Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Center of Excellence for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA mariano@post.harvard.edu.
Mascha Van't Wout*Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Center of Excellence for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Sarah L Garnaat*Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
Steven A Rasmussen*Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Center of Excellence for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Benjamin D Greenberg*Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Center of Excellence for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Brown University · USProvidence VA Medical Center · US

Funding

Promoting Research Training During Psychiatry ResidencyR25MH101076 · NIMH · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI AUDREY TYRKA · 2013 to 2026
$2.8M
NIMH NIH HHS R25 MH101076
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveCurrent chronic pain treatments target nociception rather than affective "suffering" and its associated functional and psychiatric comorbidities. The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been implicated in affective, cognitive, and attentional aspects of pain and is a primary target of neuromodulation for affective disorders. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can non-invasively modulate cortical activity. The present study tests whether anodal tDCS targeting the left DLPFC will increase tolerability of acute painful stimuli vs cathodal tDCS.

methodsForty tDCS-naive healthy volunteers received anodal and cathodal stimulation targeting the left DLPFC in two randomized and counterbalanced sessions. During stimulation, each participant performed cold pressor (CP) and breath holding (BH) tasks. We measured pain intensity with the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) before and after each task.

resultsMixed ANOVA revealed no main effect of stimulation polarity for mean CP threshold, tolerance, or endurance, or mean BH time (allP > 0.27). However, DVPRS rise associated with CP was significantly smaller with anodal vs cathodal tDCS (P = 0.024). We further observed a significant tDCS polarity × stimulation order interaction (P = 0.042) on CP threshold, suggesting task sensitization.

conclusionsAlthough our results do not suggest that polarity of tDCS targeting the left DLPFC differentially modulates the tolerability of CP- and BH-related pain distress in healthy volunteers, there was a significant effect on DVPRS pain ratings. This contrasts with our previous findings that tDCS targeting the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex showed a trend toward higher mean CP tolerance with cathodal vs anodal stimulation. The present results may suggest tDCS-related effects on nociception or DLPFC-mediated attention, or preferential modulation of the affective valence of pain as captured by the DVPRS. Sham-controlled clinical studies are needed.

Indexed as

Acute PainAdolescentAdultAgedFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansMaleMiddle AgedPain ThresholdPrefrontal CortexTranscranial Direct Current StimulationYoung AdultDLPFCDorsolateral Prefrontal CortexNeuromodulationPaintDCSTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation

Identifiers

PMID26814276
PMCPMC4890232
OpenAlexW2306081008

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.