ArticleNeuroscience2018
Anodal Transcutaneous Spinal Direct Current Stimulation (tsDCS) Selectively Inhibits the Synaptic Efficacy of Nociceptive Transmission at Spinal Cord Level.
Article in Neuroscience, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Effect of the Neuromodulation of the Cervical Spinal Cord on Nociceptive Processing in Healthy Volunteers - a Randomized, Double-blinded Study
Investigating the Effects of the Neuromodulation of the Cervical and the Low-thoracic Spinal Cord on Nociceptive Processing in Healthy Volunteers - an Randomized, Sham-controlled, Double-blinded Study
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of neuromodulation and rehabilitation approaches on pain relief in patients with spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation in unmedicated adults with major depressive disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial and induced current flow pattern.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Anodal transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation influences the amplitude of pain-related evoked potentials in healthy subjects.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation shows no effect on paired stimulation suppression of the somatosensory cortex.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Effects of Transcutaneous Spinal Direct Current Stimulation on Cognitive and Psychological Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis: A Preliminary Case Series.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- 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
- Increase in Ia Afferent Synaptic Excitation of SOD1 G93A Mouse Motoneurons by 2-Week Anodal Trans-Spinal Direct Current Stimulation Does Not Ameliorate the Cellular Burden of the Disease.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- From brain to spinal cord: neuromodulation by direct current stimulation and its promising effects as a treatment option for restless legs syndrome.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
- Long-term analgesic effect of trans-spinal direct current stimulation compared to non-invasive motor cortex stimulation in complex regional pain syndrome.Brain communications · 2023Article
- Anodal transcutaneous DC stimulation enhances learning of dynamic balance control during walking in humans with spinal cord injury.Experimental brain research · 2022Article
- Article
- Effects of Transcutaneous Spinal Direct Current Stimulation (tsDCS) in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Clinical and Neurophysiological Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- Is there hope that transpinal direct current stimulation corrects motoneuron excitability and provides neuroprotection in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?Physiological reports · 2021Review
- Multimodal treatment for spinal cord injury: a sword of neuroregeneration upon neuromodulation.Neural regeneration research · 2020Review
- Backward locomotor treadmill training combined with transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation in stroke: a randomized pilot feasibility and safety study.Brain communications · 2020Article
- Beyond the target area: an integrative view of tDCS-induced motor cortex modulation in patients and athletes.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2019Review
- Assessing adverse effects and unspecific effects of transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS).Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)Article
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 at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Recently studies have aimed at developing transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) as a non-invasive technique to modulate spinal function in humans. Independent studies evaluating its after-effects on nociceptive or non-nociceptive somatosensory responses have reported comparable effects suggesting that tsDCS impairs axonal conduction of both the spino-thalamic and the medial lemniscus tracts. The present study aimed to better understand how tsDCS affects, in humans, the spinal transmission of nociceptive and non-nociceptive somatosensory inputs. We compared the after-effects of anodal low-thoracic, anodal cervical and sham tsDCS on the perception and brain responses elicited by laser stimuli selectively activating Aδ-thermonociceptors of the spinothalamic system and vibrotactile stimuli selectively activating low-threshold Aβ-mechanoreceptors of the lemniscal system, delivered to the hands and feet. Low-thoracic tsDCS selectively and significantly affected the LEP-N2 wave elicited by nociceptive stimulation of the lower limbs, without affecting the LEP-N2 wave elicited by nociceptive stimulation of the upper limbs, and without affecting the SEP-N2 wave elicited by vibrotactile stimulation of either limb. This selective and segmental effect indicates that the neuromodulatory after-effects of tsDCS cannot be explained by anodal blockade of axonal conduction and, instead, are most probably due to a segmental effect on the synaptic efficacy of the local processing and/or transmission of nociceptive inputs in the dorsal horn.
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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.