Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30978259›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2019

Transcranial direct current stimulation in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analysis of neuropsychological deficits.

Mohammad Ali Salehinejad, Miles Wischnewski, Vahid Nejati, Carmelo M Vicario, Michael A Nitsche

Erratum issued Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT04964427 (The Effects of Methylphenidate), which is not on this map. Cited by 56 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
56citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT04964427 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

The Effects of Methylphenidate (MPH) and Non-invasive Brain Stimulation (tDCS) on Inhibitory Control Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

TypeinterventionalSponsorBambino Gesù Hospital and Research InstituteRan2021 to 2022Enrolled26ConditionsAttention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderArmsMethylphenidate, anodal tDCS, sham tDCS
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

56 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  6. Evidence-based umbrella review of cognitive effects of prefrontal tDCS.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022
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  20. Neuromodulation as a Potential Intervention for Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Mohammad Ali SalehinejadRuhr-University Bochum, International Graduate School of Neuroscience, Bochum, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1913-4677
Miles WischnewskiDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Vahid NejatiDepartment of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Carmelo M VicarioLeibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Dortmund, Germany.
Michael A NitscheLeibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Dortmund, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising method for altering cortical excitability with clinical implications in neuropsychiatric diseases. Its application in neurodevelopmental disorders especially attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is in early stage and promising but its effectiveness has not been systematically examined yet. We conducted a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of tDCS on the most studied neuropsychological symptoms of ADHD, which is the first reported meta-analysis of tDCS studies on ADHD. Data from 10 randomized controlled studies (including 11 separate experiments) targeting inhibitory control, and/or working memory (WM) in ADHD were included. Results show that overall tDCS significantly improved inhibitory control. Sub-analyses further show that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) (but not right inferior frontal gyrus) tDCS and anodal (but not cathodal) tDCS significantly improved inhibitory control with a small effect size. Anodal dlPFC-tDCS had the largest significant effect on inhibitory control with a small-to-medium effect size. Additionally, a significant improving effect of tDCS on inhibitory control accuracy (but not response time) and WM speed (but not accuracy) were found. Overall, this meta-analysis supports a beneficial effect of tDCS on inhibitory control and WM in ADHD with a small-to-medium effect size. TDCS seems to be a promising method for improving neuropsychological and cognitive deficits in ADHD. However, there might be a dissociation between neuropsychological deficits and clinical symptoms of ADHD and therefore, the significance of this meta-analysis for clinical purposes is limited. Future studies should systematically evaluate the role of inter-individual factors (i.e., ADHD subtype, types of the deficit) and stimulation parameters (i.e., site, polarity, intensity, duration, repetition rate) on tDCS efficacy in ADHD population and examine whether benefits are long-term.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityHumansNeuropsychological TestsPrognosisTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation

Identifiers

PMID30978259
PMCPMC6461252

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.