ReviewFrontiers in psychology2019
Can Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Localize Brain Function?
Review in Frontiers in psychology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Causal involvement of the left angular gyrus in higher functions as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation: a systematic review.Brain structure & function · 2023Pooled it
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS): from basic mechanisms towards first applications in psychiatry.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the Left Sensorimotor Cortex on Bimanual Force Control: A Computational and Experimental Investigation.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Cognition in Patients with Drug-Resistant Focal Epilepsy: A Critical Review.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Anodal tDCS over the supplementary motor area increases motor overflow during imagined aiming movement.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Neuromodulations in Psychiatric Disorders: Emerging Lines of Definition.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2025Article
- Closing the loop between brain and electrical stimulation: towards precision neuromodulation treatments.Translational psychiatry · 2023Review
- Focused Epicranial Brain Stimulation by Spatial Sculpting of Pulsed Electric Fields Using High Density Electrode Arrays.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- Using a Pulse Protocol to Fix the Individual Dosage of Transcranial and Transspinal Direct Current Electrical Stimulation.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for the Modulation of Aggressive Behavior-A Systematic Review of Randomized Sham-Controlled Studies.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Stimulating human prefrontal cortex increases reward learning.NeuroImage · 2023Article
- Towards causal mechanisms of consciousness through focused transcranial brain stimulation.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2023Review
- Article
- Online closed-loop real-time tES-fMRI for brain modulation: A technical report.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- Long-lasting, dissociable improvements in working memory and long-term memory in older adults with repetitive neuromodulation.Nature neuroscience · 2022Article
- Short periods of bipolar anodal TDCS induce no instantaneous dose-dependent increase in cerebral blood flow in the targeted human motor cortex.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Personalized Frequency Modulated Transcranial Electrical Stimulation for Associative Memory Enhancement.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Transcranial electric stimulation as a neural interface to gain insight on human brain functions: current knowledge and future perspective.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022Review
- Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (atDCS) of the Primary Motor Cortex (M1) Facilitates Nonconscious Error Correction of Negative Phase Shifts.Neural plasticity · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) uses constant (TDCS) or alternating currents (TACS) to modulate brain activity. Most TES studies apply low-intensity currents through scalp electrodes (≤2 mA) using bipolar electrode arrangements, producing weak electrical fields in the brain (<1 V/m). Low-intensity TES has been employed in humans to induce changes in task performance during or after stimulation. In analogy to focal transcranial magnetic stimulation, TES-induced behavioral effects have often been taken as evidence for a causal involvement of the brain region underlying one of the two stimulation electrodes, often referred to as the active electrode. Here, we critically review the utility of bipolar low-intensity TES to localize human brain function. We summarize physiological substrates that constitute peripheral targets for TES and may mediate subliminal or overtly perceived peripheral stimulation during TES. We argue that peripheral co-stimulation may contribute to the behavioral effects of TES and should be controlled for by "sham" TES. We discuss biophysical properties of TES, which need to be considered, if one wishes to make realistic assumptions about which brain regions were preferentially targeted by TES. Using results from electric field calculations, we evaluate the validity of different strategies that have been used for selective spatial targeting. Finally, we comment on the challenge of adjusting the dose of TES considering dose-response relationships between the weak tissue currents and the physiological effects in targeted cortical areas. These considerations call for caution when attributing behavioral effects during or after low-intensity TES studies to a specific brain region and may facilitate the selection of best practices for future TES studies.
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.