ArticleEpilepsia open2016
Cathodal transcranial direct-current stimulation for treatment of drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy: A pilot randomized controlled trial.
Article in Epilepsia open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06558890 (A Study on the Efficacy and Mechanism of Targeted Cerebellar Transcranial Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
A Study on the Efficacy and Mechanism of Targeted Cerebellar Transcranial Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Single-center, Observational Study.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation on seizure control in patients with refractory epilepsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Neurosurgical review · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in treatment of refractory epilepsy: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized sham-controlled trials.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation in the management of epilepsy: a meta-analysis and systematic review.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Transcranial current stimulation in epilepsy: A systematic review of the fundamental and clinical aspects.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Non-invasive neuromodulation for drug-resistant epilepsy: a contemporary structured review of mechanisms, clinical evidence and future directions.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- Personalized multichannel transcranial direct current electrical stimulation (tDCS) in drug-resistant epilepsy: A SEEG based open-labeled study.Epilepsia open · 2025Article
- Tolerability and Effectiveness of Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Children with Refractory Epilepsy: A Case Series.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Effect of neurostimulation on cognition and mood in refractory epilepsy.Epilepsia open · 2018Review
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 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the effect of cathodal transcranial direct-current stimulation (c-tDCS) on seizure frequency in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Method: Twenty-nine patients with drug-resistant TLE participated in this study. They were randomized to experimental or sham group. Twenty participants (experimental group) received within-session repeated c-tDCS intervention over the affected temporal lobe, and nine (sham group) received sham tDCS. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to assess short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) in primary motor cortex ipsilateral to the affected temporal lobe. SICI was measured from motor evoked potentials recorded from the contralateral first dorsal interosseous muscle. Adverse effects were monitored during and after each intervention in both groups. A seizure diary was given to each participant to complete for 4 weeks following the tDCS intervention. The mean response ratio was calculated from their seizure rates before and after the tDCS intervention. Results: The experimental group showed a significant increase in SICI compared to the sham group (F = 10.3, p = 0.005). None of the participants reported side effects of moderate or severe degree. The mean response ratio in seizure frequency was -42.14% (standard deviation [SD] 35.93) for the experimental group and -16.98% (SD 52.41) for the sham group. Significance: Results from this pilot study suggest that tDCS may be a safe and efficacious nonpharmacologic intervention for patients with drug-resistant TLE. Further evaluation in larger double-blind randomized controlled trials is warranted.
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