ArticleThe journal of ECT2020
A Pilot Study Comparing Effects of Bifrontal Versus Bitemporal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer Disease.
Article in The journal of ECT, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Can exercise combined with transcranial direct current stimulation improve cognitive function in older adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairments: the influence of dosage parameters.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of transcranial direct-current stimulation effects on cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Connectome-Guided Personalization of Optimal TDCS Intervention Selection in Alzheimer's Disease: A Modeling Study.eNeuro · 2026Article
- Baseline amyloid burden and global cognitive change during a home-based tDCS protocol in late-life depression: an exploratory single-arm study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Targeting Neural Oscillations for Cognitive Enhancement in Alzheimer's Disease.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Virtual neural network-guided optimization of non-invasive brain stimulation in Alzheimer's disease.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Tracking the current in the Alzheimer's brain - Systematic differences between patients and healthy controls in the electric field induced by tDCS.Neuroimage. Reports · 2023Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Enhances Cognitive Function in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early/Mid Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Brain sciences · 2022Review
- The Effect and Mechanism of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Episodic Memory in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Article
- Past, Present, and Future of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Approaches to Treat Cognitive Impairment in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Time for a Comprehensive Critical Review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2020Review
- Efficacy and safety of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in memory deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease: Meta-analysis and systematic review.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveWhile transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can enhance aspects of memory in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD), there has been wide variability in both the placement of tDCS electrodes and treatment response. This study compared the effects of bifrontal (anodal stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices), bitemporal (anodal stimulation over the temporal cortices), and sham tDCS on cognitive performance in MCI and AD.
methodsSeventeen patients diagnosed with MCI or mild AD received 3 sessions of anodal tDCS (bifrontal, bitemporal, 2 mA for 20 minutes; and sham) in random order. Sessions were separated by 1 week. The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Word Recognition Task, Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Word Recall Task, 2-back, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment were used to assess cognition.
resultsThere was a significant effect of stimulation condition on 2-back accuracy (F2,28 = 5.28 P = 0.01, ηp = 0.27), with greater improvements following bitemporal tDCS compared with both bifrontal and sham stimulations. There were no significant changes on other outcome measures following any stimulation. Adverse effects from stimulation were mild and temporary.
conclusionsThese findings demonstrate that improvements in specific memory tasks can be safely achieved after a single session of bitemporal tDCS in MCI and mild AD patients.
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