SynthesisPain2020
Noninvasive motor cortex stimulation effects on quantitative sensory testing in healthy and chronic pain subjects: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pain, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 6 of them syntheses 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pain and function in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Safety and effectiveness of non-invasive brain stimulation on mobility and balance function in children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Noninvasive brain stimulation beyond the motor cortex: a systematic review and meta-analysis exploring effects on quantitative sensory testing in clinical pain.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2025Pooled it
- Brain stimulation targets for chronic pain: Insights from meta-analysis, functional connectivity and literature review.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024Pooled it
- Research progress in neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: a bibliometric study from 2013 to 2024.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for improving lower limb function in individuals with neurological disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized sham-controlled trials.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Modulation of evoked alpha oscillatory activity in the frontocentral region during analgesia by non-invasive brain stimulation.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Trial
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease Patients in the Off State: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial Examining the Effects on Pain With and Without the Influence of Dopaminergic Medication.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation over motor cortex improves pain in end stage renal disease a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Targeting Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Orbitofrontal Cortex on Somatic Symptoms in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Clinical Trial.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Trial
- Brain compensatory mechanisms in depression and memory complaints in fibromyalgia: the role of theta oscillatory activity.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2024Trial
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (t-DCS) of the Cerebellum on Pain Perception and Endogenous Pain Modulation: a Randomized, Monocentric, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Crossover Study.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2023Trial
- Prolonged continuous theta burst stimulation increases motor corticospinal excitability and intracortical inhibition in patients with neuropathic pain: An exploratory, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial.Neurophysiologie clinique = Clinical neurophysiology · 2023Trial
- Modulation of central pain mechanisms using high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation: A double-blind, sham-controlled study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2023Trial
- Lower resting-state functional connectivity between frontoparietal and sensory networks is associated with recent pain intensity in a community sample of youth.Neuroimage. Reports · 2026Article
- A randomized trial of a digitally delivered, home-based neuromodulation and mindfulness intervention for pain management in older adults with knee osteoarthritis.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- A randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled, 2×2 factorial trial of aerobic vs. non-aerobic exercise and motor cortex transcranial direct current stimulation in fibromyalgia: effects on clinical outcomes and descending pain modulation.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Mechanism-based management of taxane-induced neuropathic pain in breast cancer survivors: a critical review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Does transcranial direct current stimulation enhance the hypoalgesic effect of exercise?Sports medicine and health science · 2026Article
- The cortical mechanisms underlying the analgesic effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
abstractOne of the potential mechanisms of motor cortex stimulation by noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) effects on pain is through the restoration of the defective endogenous inhibitory pain pathways. However, there are still limited data on quantitative sensory testing (QST), including conditioned pain modulation (CPM), supporting this mechanism. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of noninvasive motor cortex stimulation on pain perception as indexed by changes in QST outcomes. Database searches were conducted until July 2019 to include randomized controlled trials that performed sham-controlled NIBS on the motor cortex in either the healthy and/or pain population and assessed the QST and CPM. Quality of studies was assessed through the Cochrane tool. We calculated the Hedge's effect sizes of QST and CPM outcomes and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and performed random-effects meta-analyses. Thirty-eight studies were included (1178 participants). We found significant increases of pain threshold in healthy subjects (ES = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.02-0.31, I2 = 22.2%) and pain populations (ES = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.15-0.80, I2 = 68.8%), and homogeneous higher CPM effect (pain ratings reduction) in healthy subjects (ES = -0.39, 95% CI = -0.64 to -0.14, I2 = 17%) and pain populations (ES = -0.35, 95% CI = -0.60 to -0.11, I2 = 0%) in the active NIBS group compared with sham. These results support the idea of top-down modulation of endogenous pain pathways by motor cortex stimulation as one of the main mechanisms of pain reduction assessed by QST, which could be a useful predictive and prognostic biomarker for chronic pain personalized treatment with NIBS.
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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.