Trial reportPain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2019
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Affective Symptoms and Functioning in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Double-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2019. 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 25 papers, 7 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.
Corticospinal and Motor Behavior Responses After 6-week Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Combined With Motor Control Exercises in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain
The Effects of Different Types of Stimulation on Movement Control and Motor Unit Behavior in Individuals With Lumbopelvic Movement Control Impairment
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and safety of non-invasive brain stimulation for chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of transcranial electrical stimulation in the treatment of chronic nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Transcranial Electrical Stimulation in Treatment of Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating the effects of tDCS on depressive and anxiety symptoms from a transdiagnostic perspective: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Is transcranial direct current stimulation beneficial for treating pain, depression, and anxiety symptoms in patients with chronic pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Evidence-Based Guidelines and Secondary Meta-Analysis for the Use of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Opioid Use Disorder.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Investigation into the Effectiveness of Combining Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation as Treatment Options for Poststroke Shoulder Pain by Utilizing Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2023Trial
- Immediate and long-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pain relief in older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A pilot study.Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.)Trial
- Comparative Efficacy of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation for Pain, Anxiety, and Depression: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Combining Noninvasive Brain Stimulation and Physiotherapy to Improve the Management of Chronic Low Back Pain in Veterans: Protocol for a Multi-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Article
- Exploring the therapeutic potential of transcranial direct current stimulation for chronic low back pain: a scoping review.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2025Article
- Anatomo-physiological basis and applied techniques of electrical neuromodulation in chronic pain.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2024Review
- Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound to the Human Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Attenuates Acute Pain Perception and Autonomic Responses.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Orthopedic Pain: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Transcranial direct current stimulation for chronic headaches, a randomized, controlled trial.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- 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
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveChronic low back pain (CLBP) is highly prevalent, with a substantial psychosocial burden. Pain has both sensory and affective components. The latter component is a significant driver of disability and psychiatric comorbidity but is often inadequately treated. Previously we reported that noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may modulate pain-associated affective distress. Here we tested whether 10 daily tDCS sessions aimed to inhibit the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), a region strongly implicated in the affective component of pain, would produce selective reduction in pain-related symptoms.
methodsIn this multisite, double-blinded, randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT), 21 CLBP patients received 10 weekday sessions of 2-mA active tDCS or sham (20 minutes/session). A cathodal electrode was placed over FC1 (10-20 electroencephalography coordinates), and an identical anodal return electrode was placed over the contralateral mastoid. Participants rated pain intensity, acceptance, interference, disability, and anxiety, plus general anxiety and depression.
resultsRegression analysis noted significantly less pain interference (P =0.002), pain disability (P =0.001), and depression symptoms (P =0.003) at six-week follow-up for active tDCS vs sham. Omnibus tests suggested that these improvements were not merely due to baseline (day 1) group differences.
conclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first double-blinded RCT of multiple tDCS sessions targeting the left dACC to modulate CLBP's affective symptoms. Results are encouraging, including several possible tDCS-associated improvements. Better-powered RCTs are needed to confirm these effects. Future studies should also consider different stimulation schedules, additional cortical targets, high-density multi-electrode tDCS arrays, and multimodal approaches.
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.