ArticleNature communications2019
tACS motor system effects can be caused by transcutaneous stimulation of peripheral nerves.
Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 116 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
116 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 271 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS): from basic mechanisms towards first applications in psychiatry.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of transcranial alternating current stimulation in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a double-blind randomized sham-controlled trial.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Long-Term Application of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Does Not Improve Motor Learning in Parkinson's Disease.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2022Trial
- No aftereffects of high current density 10 Hz and 20 Hz tACS on sensorimotor alpha and beta oscillations.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Reduces Network Hypersynchrony and Persistent Vertigo.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2021Trial
- Development, validation, and pilot MRI safety study of a high-resolution, open source, whole body pediatric numerical simulation model.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Off-line effects of alpha-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation on a visuomotor learning task.Brain and behavior · 2020Trial
- Individual differences in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology predict effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation.Brain stimulationTrial
- Does Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Primary Motor Cortex Really Enhance Motor Sequence Learning?Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Sex Does Matter! The Influence of Sex on Outcomes of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).Cells · 2026Review
- Manipulating speech perception with amplitude-modulated kilohertz magnetic perturbation (AM-kTMP).bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Amplitude-modulated kilohertz stimulation targeting beta-band activity disrupts motor learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Bifocal Beta-frequency Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Enhances Somatosensory Spatial Discrimination.Brain topography · 2026Article
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation improves ballistic motor performance in trained and untrained limbs of healthy older adults.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Cutaneous Alternating Current Stimulation Can Cause a Phasic Modulation of Speech Perception.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Augmentation of frontoparietal gamma-band phase coupling enhances human altruistic behavior.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Variable E-field properties of dual-site tACS with phase lags.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Sham tDCS controls: blinding, reliability, and a specification-grade checklist.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Heartbeat perception is causally linked to frontal delta oscillations.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Transcranial temporal interference stimulation precisely targets deep brain regions to regulate eye movements.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Article
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a noninvasive neuromodulation method which has been shown to modulate hearing, motor, cognitive and memory function. However, the mechanisms underpinning these findings are controversial, as studies show that the current reaching the cortex may not be strong enough to entrain neural activity. Here, we propose a new hypothesis to reconcile these opposing results: tACS effects are caused by transcutaneous stimulation of peripheral nerves in the skin and not transcranial stimulation of cortical neurons. Rhythmic activity from peripheral nerves then entrains cortical neurons. A series of experiments in rats and humans isolated the transcranial and transcutaneous mechanisms and showed that the reported effects of tACS on the motor system can be caused by transcutaneous stimulation of peripheral nerves. Whether or not the transcutaneous mechanism will generalize to tACS effects on other systems is debatable but should be investigated.
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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.