Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31668982›Full record

ArticleBrain stimulation

Direct current stimulation boosts hebbian plasticity in vitro.

Greg Kronberg, Asif Rahman, Mahima Sharma, Marom Bikson, Lucas C Parra

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 5 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

71 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  19. Churning Better Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Outcome with Accelerated Protocols: Understanding the Non-linear Dynamics through Metaplasticity.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Review
  20. Repeated tDCS at Clinically Relevant Field Intensity Can Boost Concurrent Motor Learning in Rats.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Article

11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Greg KronbergDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, CUNY, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: gregkronberg@gmail.com.
Asif RahmanDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, CUNY, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, USA.
Mahima SharmaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, CUNY, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, USA.
Marom BiksonDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, CUNY, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, USA.
Lucas C ParraDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, CUNY, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, USA.

Funding

Training and Career Development CoreU54CA132378 · NCI · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI Tim Alan Ahles, ADRIANA ESPINOSA · 2008 to 2026
$28.9M
Training and Career Development and Education CoreU54CA137788 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · PI Daniel Alan Heller · 2008 to 2026
$28.1M
Effects of direct-current stimulation on synaptic plasticityR01NS095123 · NINDS · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI PARRA, LUCAS C · 2016 to 2020
$1.7M
NCI NIH HHS U54 CA132378NCI NIH HHS U54 CA137788NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS095123
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is evidence that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve learning performance. Arguably, this effect is related to long term potentiation (LTP), but the precise biophysical mechanisms remain unknown. HYPOTHESIS: We propose that direct current stimulation (DCS) causes small changes in postsynaptic membrane potential during ongoing endogenous synaptic activity. The altered voltage dynamics in the postsynaptic neuron then modify synaptic strength via the machinery of endogenous voltage-dependent Hebbian plasticity. This hypothesis predicts that DCS should exhibit Hebbian properties, namely pathway specificity and associativity.

methodsWe studied the effects of DCS applied during the induction of LTP in the CA1 region of rat hippocampal slices and using a biophysical computational model.

resultsDCS enhanced LTP, but only at synapses that were undergoing plasticity, confirming that DCS respects Hebbian pathway specificity. When different synaptic pathways cooperated to produce LTP, DCS enhanced this cooperation, boosting Hebbian associativity. Further slice experiments and computer simulations support a model where polarization of postsynaptic pyramidal neurons drives these plasticity effects through endogenous Hebbian mechanisms. The model is able to reconcile several experimental results by capturing the complex interaction between the induced electric field, neuron morphology, and endogenous neural activity.

conclusionsThese results suggest that tDCS can enhance associative learning. We propose that clinical tDCS should be applied during tasks that induce Hebbian plasticity to harness this phenomenon, and that the effects should be task specific through their interaction with endogenous plasticity mechanisms. Models that incorporate brain state and plasticity mechanisms may help to improve prediction of tDCS outcomes.

Indexed as

Long-Term PotentiationAnimalsAssociation LearningHippocampusMalePyramidal CellsRatsSynapsesTranscranial Direct Current StimulationHebbianLTPSynaptic plasticitytDCSTranscranial direct current stimulationTranscranial electrical stimulation

Identifiers

PMID31668982
PMCPMC6989352

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.