Trial reportBrain stimulation
Dopamine depletion effects on cognitive flexibility as modulated by tDCS of the dlPFC.
Trial report in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07141979 (Effects of tDCS on Cognitive Flexibility and EEG Oscillations in Orthorexia Nervosa), which is not on this map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Effects of tDCS on Cognitive Flexibility and EEG Oscillations in Orthorexia Nervosa
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Optimizing tDCS cognitive outcomes in schizophrenia: the role of dopaminergic tone and antipsychotic load.Translational psychiatry · 2026Trial
- A new perspective for evaluating the efficacy of tACS and tDCS in improving executive functions: A combined tES and fNIRS study.Human brain mapping · 2024Trial
- When brain stimulation backfires: the effects of prefrontal cortex stimulation on impulsivity.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022Trial
- Article
- How to Improve Cognitive Flexibility: Evidence From Noninvasive Neuromodulation Techniques.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Review
- Behavioural disorders and sleep problems in Sanfilippo syndrome: overlaps with some other conditions and importance indications.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- Article
- Research progress of tDCS in the treatment of ADHD.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025Review
- The Cerebellum and Cognitive Function: Anatomical Evidence from a Transdiagnostic Sample.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2024Article
- Cognitive inflexibility, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and traits and poor post-pandemic adjustment.Neuroscience applied · 2024Review
- The efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Article
- Prefrontal Dopamine in Flexible Adaptation to Environmental Changes: A Game for Two Players.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- 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
- Distract or Reappraise? The Mechanism of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Choice and Its Influential Factors.Psychology research and behavior management · 2022Review
- Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Offers the Possibility of Improving Teamwork Among Military Pilots: A Review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Review
- GABA Supplementation Negatively Affects Cognitive Flexibility Independent of Tyrosine.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Article
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 at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecent evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may interact with the dopaminergic system to affect cognitive flexibility. Objective/hypotheses: We examined whether putative reduction of dopamine levels through the acute phenylalanine/tyrosine depletion (APTD) procedure and excitatory anodal tDCS of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) are causally related to cognitive flexibility as measured by task switching and reversal learning.
methodA double-blind, sham-controlled, randomised trial was conducted to test the effects of combining anodal tDCS and depletion of catecholaminergic precursor tyrosine on cognitive flexibility.
resultsAnodal tDCS and tyrosine depletion had a significant effect on task switching, but not reversal learning. Whilst perseverative errors were significantly improved by anodal tDCS, the APTD impaired reaction times. Importantly, the combination of APTD and anodal tDCS resulted in cognitive performance which did not statistically differ to that of the control condition.
conclusionsOur results suggest that the effects of tDCS on cognitive flexibility are modulated by dopaminergic tone.
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.