ArticleFrontiers in molecular neuroscience2020
Brain Metabolite Changes After Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Article in Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcranial direct current stimulation on social communication among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Biomarker use in predicting transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) response: a systematic scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in psychiatric disorders in early childhood (aged under 10 years): a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation in children and young people with psychiatric disorders: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Transcranial Pulsed Current Stimulation and Social Functioning in Children With Autism: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- HD-tDCS effects on social impairment in autism spectrum disorder with sensory processing abnormalities: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Multisession tDCS combined with intrastimulation training improves emotion recognition in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024Trial
- Increased brain glucose metabolism after anodal left DLPFC-right shoulder tDCS in ASD: an open-label pilot F-18 FDG PET/CT study.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Physiological Mechanisms of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Enhance Motor Performance: A Narrative Review.Biology · 2024Review
- The use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques in autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2024Article
- Recent advancements in noninvasive brain modulation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.Neural regeneration research · 2023Review
- A bibliometric analysis of global research status and trends in neuromodulation techniques in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates EEG Microstates in Low-Functioning Autism: A Pilot Study.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Regional homogeneity of adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and its association with symptom severity.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- Brain laterality evaluated by F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission computed tomography in autism spectrum disorders.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Treatment of Child Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Ethical Considerations.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- Repeated Sessions of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized, Double-Blind, and Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesPrevious research has provided evidence that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can reduce severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, the exact mechanism of this effect is still unknown. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy has demonstrated low levels of brain metabolites in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in individuals with ASD. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of anodal tDCS on social functioning of individuals with ASD, as measured by the social subscale of the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), through correlations between pretreatment and posttreatment concentrations of brain metabolites in the areas of interest (DLPFC, ACC, amygdala, and locus coeruleus) and scores on the ATEC social subscale.
methodsTen participants with ASD were administered 1 mA anodal tDCS to the left DLPFC for 20 min over five consecutive days. Measures of the ATEC social subscale and the concentrations of brain metabolites were performed before and immediately after the treatment.
resultsThe results showed a significant decrease between pretreatment and immediately posttreatment in the ATEC social subscale scores, significant increases in N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) and myoinositol (mI)/Cr concentrations, and a decrease in choline (Cho)/Cr concentrations in the left DLPFC and locus coeruleus after tDCS treatment. Significant associations between decreased ATEC social subscale scores and changed concentrations in NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, and mI/Cr in the locus coeruleus were positive.
conclusionFindings suggest that beneficial effects of tDCS in ASD may be due to changes in neuronal and glia cell activity and synaptogenesis in the brain network of individuals with ASD. Further studies with larger sample sizes and control groups are warranted.
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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.