Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32353992›Full record

ArticleBrain sciences2020

Theory of Mind Performance Predicts tDCS-Mediated Effects on the Medial Prefrontal Cortex: A Pilot Study to Investigate the Role of Sex and Age.

Maria Cotelli, Rosa Manenti, Elena Gobbi, Ivan Enrici, Danila Rusich, Clarissa Ferrari, Mauro Adenzato

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Maria CotelliNeuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni, 4, 25125 Brescia, BS, Italy.
Rosa ManentiNeuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni, 4, 25125 Brescia, BS, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-5955-2323
Elena GobbiNeuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni, 4, 25125 Brescia, BS, Italy.
Ivan EnriciDepartment of Philosophy and Educational Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, TO, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-1289-5855
Danila RusichDepartment of Human Science, LUMSA University (Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta), 00193 Rome, RM, Italy.
Clarissa FerrariStatistics Service, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, 25125 Brescia, BS, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-4101-6872
Mauro AdenzatoDepartment of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, TO, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6997-9283
Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli · ITUniversity of Turin · ITLibera Università Maria SS. Assunta · IT

Funding

Ministero della Salute Ricerca CorrenteUniversity of Turin grants Ricerca scientifica finanziata dall'Università
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has become an increasingly promising tool for understanding the relationship between brain and behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the magnitude of sex- and age-related tDCS effects previously found in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during a Theory of Mind (ToM) task correlates with social cognition performance; in particular, we explored whether different patterns of activity would be detected in high- and low-performing participants. For this, young and elderly, male and female participants were categorized as a low- or high-performer according to their score on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task. Furthermore, we explored whether sex- and age-related effects associated with active tDCS on the mPFC were related to cognitive functioning. We observed the following results: (i) elderly participants experience a significant decline in ToM performance compared to young participants; (ii) low-performing elderly females report slowing of reaction time when anodal tDCS is applied over the mPFC during a ToM task; and (iii) low-performing elderly females are characterized by lower scores in executive control functions, verbal fluency and verbal short-term memory. The relationship between tDCS results and cognitive functioning is discussed in light of the neuroscientific literature on sex- and age-related differences.

Indexed as

agingnoninvasive brain stimulationsex differencessocial cognitiontheory of mindtranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Identifiers

PMID32353992
PMCPMC7288024
OpenAlexW3022032086

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.