SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2019
Is tDCS an Adjunct Ergogenic Resource for Improving Muscular Strength and Endurance Performance? A Systematic Review.
Synthesis 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, 6 of them syntheses 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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation on psychological factors in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Acute effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation on endurance and maximal voluntary contraction in lower limbs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental brain research · 2025Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of the acute effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation on athletic performance.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Does a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation enhance both physical and psychological performance in national- or international-level athletes? A systematic review.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Pooled it
- The influence of a single transcranial direct current stimulation session on physical fitness in healthy subjects: a systematic review.Experimental brain research · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic Review of the Impact of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Neuromechanical Management of Foot and Ankle Physical Performance in Healthy Adults.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2020Pooled it
- Outcomes From Use of the Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) 11⁺ Program With and Without Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in 60 Male High School Soccer Players.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Acute Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Pelvic Floor Muscle Function in Young Healthy Women: Initial Findings of a Randomized Controlled Trial.International urogynecology journal · 2024Trial
- Acute effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on postural control of trained athletes: A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Pushing athletic performance boundaries with anodal transcranial direct current stimulation: an exploratory, pilot, randomized controlled study on strength and inflammation in elite weightlifters.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Electroceuticals for Paralympic Athletes: A Fair Play and Classification Concern?Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Effects of repeated tDCS on lower limb muscle explosive strength and executive function in male collegiate volleyball players: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Fatigue protocols and athletic performance: a systematic review with a focus on ecological relevance.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- What are the optimal transcranial direct current stimulation parameters and design elements to modulate corticospinal excitability? A systematic review and longitudinal meta-analysis.Neurological research and practice · 2025Review
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on mental fatigue reduction and physical performance improvement in healthy adults: a systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Article
- Effect of Eight-Week Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation Combined with Lat Pull-Down Resistance Training on Improving Pull-Up Performance for Male College Students.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Research progress on transcranial direct current stimulation for improving muscle strength: a narrative review.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
- Optimising transcranial direct current stimulation application for the enhancement of exercise performance: a review.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Exercise performance is influenced by many physical factors, such as muscle strength and endurance. Particularly in the physical fitness and sports performance contexts, there are many types of ergogenic aids to improve muscular strength and endurance performance, with non-athletes and even athletes using illegal drugs to reach the top. Thus, the development of innovative methods to aid in exercise performance is of great interest. One such method is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). A systematic search was performed on the following databases, until January 2019; PubMed/MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Pedro database. Studies on tDCS for muscular strength and endurance performance improvement in non-athletes and athletes adults were included. We compared the effect of anodal-tDCS (a-tDCS) to a sham/control condition on the outcomes muscular strength and endurance performance. We found 26 controlled trials. No trial mentions negative side effects of the intervention. The data show differences between the studies investigating muscle strength and the studies evaluating endurance, with regard to successful use of tDCS. Studies investigating the efficiency of tDCS on improving muscular strength demonstrate positive effects of a-tDCS in 66.7% of parameters tested. In contrast, in studies evaluating the effects of a-tDCS on improving endurance performance the a-tDCS revealed a significant improvement in only 50% of parameters assessed. The majority of the data shows consistently influence of a-tDCS on muscular strength, but not to endurance performance. The results of this systematic review suggest that a-tDCS can improve muscular strength, but not to endurance performance.
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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.