ArticleBrain and behavior2017
Transcranial direct current stimulation may modulate extinction memory in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 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
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immediate and long-term efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tCDS) in obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on the Effect of Transcranial Direct Current and Magnetic Stimulation on Fear Memory and Extinction.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Frontopolar multifocal transcranial direct current stimulation reduces conditioned fear reactivity during extinction training: A pilot randomized controlled trial.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2023Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the medial prefrontal cortex modulates functional connectivity and enhances safety learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Results from two pilot studies.Depression and anxiety · 2022Trial
- Simultaneous Application of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation during Virtual Reality Exposure.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2021Trial
- Contextual Engagement to Enhance Effective Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A Theoretical and Mechanistic Perspective.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2026Article
- The physiological foundation of extinction improvement by tDCS over the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in healthy humans: an fMRI study.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- A systematic review of spontaneous recovery in human fear conditioning.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- Frontal Cortex Stimulation Modulates Attentional Circuits and Increases Anxiety-Potentiated Startle in Anxious Depression.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Article
- Failure modes and mitigations for Bayesian optimization of neuromodulation parameters.Journal of neural engineering · 2025Review
- Article
- Neuromodulation of Fear and Anxiety Circuits.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Enhancing emotion regulation: investigating the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation at PC6 in reducing fear of heights.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Update on neurobiological mechanisms of fear: illuminating the direction of mechanism exploration and treatment development of trauma and fear-related disorders.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Review
- Therapeutic potential of brain stimulation techniques in the treatment of mental, psychiatric, and cognitive disorders.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2023Review
- Contemporary Approaches Toward Neuromodulation of Fear Extinction and Its Underlying Neural Circuits.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2023Article
- Stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex blocks the return of subcortically mediated fear responses.Translational psychiatry · 2022Article
- Offline tDCS modulates prefrontal-cortical-subcortical-cerebellar fear pathways in delayed fear extinction.Experimental brain research · 2022Article
- Is there a neuroscience-based, mechanistic rationale for transcranial direct current stimulation as an adjunct treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder?Behavioral neuroscience · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAbnormalities in fear extinction and recall are core components of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Data from animal and human studies point to a role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in extinction learning and subsequent retention of extinction memories. Given the increasing interest in developing noninvasive brain stimulation protocols for psychopathology treatment, we piloted whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during extinction learning, vs. during consolidation of extinction learning, might improve extinction recall in veterans with warzone-related PTSD.
methodsTwenty-eight veterans with PTSD completed a 2-day Pavlovian fear conditioning, extinction, and recall paradigm. Participants received one 10-min session of 2 mA anodal tDCS over AF3, intended to target the vmPFC. Fourteen received tDCS that started simultaneously with extinction learning onset, and the remaining 14 participants received tDCS during extinction consolidation. Normalized skin conductance reactivity (SCR) was the primary outcome measure. Linear mixed effects models were used to test for effects of tDCS on late extinction and early extinction recall 24 hr later.
resultsDuring early recall, veterans who received tDCS during extinction consolidation showed slightly lower SCR in response to previously extinguished stimuli as compared to veterans who received tDCS simultaneous with extinction learning (
conclusionsThese preliminary findings suggest that testing the effects of tDCS during consolidation of fear extinction may have promise as a way of enhancing extinction recall.
Indexed as
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.