SynthesisThe Psychiatric quarterly2018
The Impact of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Bipolar Depression, Mania, and Euthymia: a Systematic Review of Preliminary Data.
Synthesis in The Psychiatric quarterly, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Cognitive Deficits in Depression: A Systematic Review.Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- The Effects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation of the Brain on Sleep: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Identifying treatment response classes to transcranial direct current stimulation from daily ecological momentary assessment patterns in patients with depression.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation as an Add-On Trial Treatment for Acute Bipolar Depression Patients With Suicidal Ideation.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Trial
- Development of a transcranial direct current stimulation device based on current limiter for simultaneous measurement of electroencephalography: A feasibility study.Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine · 2020Trial
- Low intensity transcranial electric stimulation: Safety, ethical, legal regulatory and application guidelines (2017-2025: An update) - endorsed by the European Society for Brain Stimulation (ESBS) and by the International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN).Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Review
- Cognitive Impairment and Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Interventions in Bipolar Disorder: A Narrative Review of Current Status and Future Directions.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Review
- Brain stimulation treatment for bipolar disorder.Bipolar disorders · 2023Review
- The Role of the Posterior Cerebellum in Dysfunctional Social Sequencing.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2022Article
- The Involvement of the Posterior Cerebellum in Reconstructing and Predicting Social Action Sequences.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2022Review
- White Matter Correlates of Early-Onset Bipolar Illness and Predictors of One-Year Recurrence of Depression in Adults with Bipolar Disorder.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Neural network of bipolar disorder: Toward integration of neuroimaging and neurocircuit-based treatment strategies.Translational psychiatry · 2022Review
- Variation of cerebrospinal fluid in specific regions regulates focality in transcranial direct current stimulation.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- Acute and Long Term Treatment of Manic Episodes in Bipolar Disorder.Noro psikiyatri arsivi · 2021Review
- Article
- A review of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the individualized treatment of depressive symptoms.Personalized medicine in psychiatryArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The neurobiological basis of bipolar disorders (BD) has received increased attention and several brain regions and brain circuits have been correlated with clinical symptoms. These brain regions and circuits may represent targets for neuromodulation techniques such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). We systematically reviewed the literature to explore the risks and benefits of tDCS in BD and examined all mood states. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature search using several databases was performed from April 2002 to June 2017. From the 135 eligible studies, we retained 19 relevant articles for the systematic review, including 170 patients with BD treated by tDCS. Data from 10 studies suggest that tDCS improves depressive symptoms in BD. One case report of add-on-tDCS reported a significant positive response on manic symptoms. In 4 studies, tDCS impacted specific neurocognitive functions in euthymic patients. There is also preliminary evidence that tDCS improves neurological soft signs and sleep quality in euthymia. Side effects were predominantly transient and low-intensity, although 6 cases of hypomanic/manic affective switches have been reported. The majority of studies have been open trials with few patients. More sufficiently powered randomized controlled trials are needed to clarify the effectiveness of tDCS. Preliminary data suggests that tDCS holds promise as a treatment for BD, especially during depressive episodes. Perhaps most promising are emerging data suggesting tDCS may impact neurocognition and sleep quality in euthymia and be useful for relapse prevention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
29785673What 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.