Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27804033›Full record

ReviewAttention, perception & psychophysics2017

Using transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) to understand cognitive processing.

Robert M G Reinhart, Josh D Cosman, Keisuke Fukuda, Geoffrey F Woodman

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Attention, perception & psychophysics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
73citing papers in PubMed, 2 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

73 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Medial Frontal Theta Reduction Impairs Rule Switching via Prediction Error.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
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13 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.

Robert M G ReinhartDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Research in Sensory Communications and Neural Technology, Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. rmgr@bu.edu.
Josh D CosmanDepartment of Translational Medicine, Pfizer Inc., Cambridge, MA, 02215, USA.
Keisuke FukudaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
Geoffrey F WoodmanDepartment of Psychology, Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA. geoffrey.f.woodman@vanderbilt.edu.

Funding

Shop Module CoreP30EY008126 · NEI · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI David J. Calkins · 1989 to 2026
$19.6M
Training in Vision ResearchT32EY007135 · NEI · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · PI GEOFFREY F WOODMAN · 1994 to 2026
$5.8M
Visual Event-Related Potentials: Comparative ElectrophysiologyR01EY019882 · NEI · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · PI WOODMAN, GEOFFREY F · 2010 to 2020
$4.0M
Restoring oscillations underlying adaptive control in schizophrenia with direct currentR01MH110378 · NIMH · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · PI PARK, SOHEE, WOODMAN, GEOFFREY F · 2016 to 2020
$2.0M
TARGETING ABERRANT RNA METABOLISM IN CRX-LINKED RETINOPATHIESR01EY025272 · NEI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI CHEN, SHIMING · 2016 to 2018
$1.1M
Cognitive Control and its neural substrates in schizophreniaF31MH102042 · NIMH · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · PI REINHART, ROBERT · 2014 to 2015
$47k
NEI NIH HHS P30 EY008126NEI NIH HHS R01 EY019882NEI NIH HHS R01 EY025272NEI NIH HHS T32 EY007135NIMH NIH HHS F31 MH102042NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH110378
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Noninvasive brain stimulation methods are becoming increasingly common tools in the kit of the cognitive scientist. In particular, transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) is showing great promise as a tool to causally manipulate the brain and understand how information is processed. The popularity of this method of brain stimulation is based on the fact that it is safe, inexpensive, its effects are long lasting, and you can increase the likelihood that neurons will fire near one electrode and decrease the likelihood that neurons will fire near another. However, this method of manipulating the brain to draw causal inferences is not without complication. Because tDCS methods continue to be refined and are not yet standardized, there are reports in the literature that show some striking inconsistencies. Primary among the complications of the technique is that the tDCS method uses two or more electrodes to pass current and all of these electrodes will have effects on the tissue underneath them. In this tutorial, we will share what we have learned about using tDCS to manipulate how the brain perceives, attends, remembers, and responds to information from our environment. Our goal is to provide a starting point for new users of tDCS and spur discussion of the standardization of methods to enhance replicability.

Indexed as

Cognitive NeuroscienceHumansTranscranial Direct Current StimulationCognitive neuroscienceMethods: Direct brain stimulation

Identifiers

PMID27804033
PMCPMC5539401

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.