Trial reportScientific reports2019
Improvement in creativity after transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Creativity-Related Studies Applying the Remote Associates Test From 2000 to 2019.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Pooled it
- Reducing attention bias toward negative emotional stimuli with transcranial random noise stimulation: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- The impact of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) on alpha coherence and verbal divergent thinking.Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- tDCS Anodal Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Improves Creative Performance in Real-World Problem Solving.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Neurorehabilitation in Post-Stroke Patients.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- Sensorimotor cortex activity during basketball dribbling and its relation to creativity.PloS one · 2023Article
- Cerebellar transcranial current stimulation - An intraindividual comparison of different techniques.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroenhancement.Clinical neurophysiology practice · 2022Review
- Comparing transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial random noise stimulation over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus: Effects on divergent and convergent thinking.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- Boosting Numerical Cognition in Children and Adolescents with Mathematical Learning Disabilities by a Brain-Based Intervention: A Study Protocol for a Randomized, Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Enhancement of semantic integration reasoning by tRNS.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2021Article
- The impact of creativity on functional outcome in schizophrenia: a mediational model.NPJ schizophrenia · 2021Article
- The Effect of Brief Stair-Climbing on Divergent and Convergent Thinking.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021Article
- The effect of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) over bilateral posterior parietal cortex on divergent and convergent thinking.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Neurostimulation stabilizes spiking neural networks by disrupting seizure-like oscillatory transitions.Scientific reports · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Creativity has previously been shown to improve after the application of direct and alternating current transcranial stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, previous studies have not tested whether transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) was efficient for this purpose. The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to investigate the effect of tRNS on both verbal convergent and (verbal and visual) divergent thinking during left DLPFC tRNS stimulation. Thirty healthy participants were randomly allocated to either a tRNS active group or a sham group. Each session lasted 20 min and the current was set to 1.5 mA (100-500 Hz). Participants' verbal convergent thinking was assessed with the Remote Associates Test (RAT). Verbal and visual divergent thinking were respectively measured by using the Unusual Uses and Picture Completion subtests from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Bootstrapped analysis of variance showed significant differences in the mean change scores between the active tRNS group and the sham group in RAT scores (d = 1.68); unusual uses: fluency (d = 2.29) and originality (d = 1.43); and general creativity (d = 1.45). Visual divergent thinking, in contrast, did not show any significant improvement. Our results suggested that tRNS over the left DLPFC is effective for increasing verbal divergent and convergent thinking.
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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.