Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33068751›Full record

Trial reportJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry2021

Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Cognitive and Electroencephalographic Predictors of Treatment Response.

Sandra K Loo, Giulia C Salgari, Alissa Ellis, Jennifer Cowen, Andrea Dillon, James J McGough

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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.

NCT02155608 nacompletednot on this map

Developmental Pilot Study of External Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation for ADHD

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of California, Los AngelesRan2015 to 2018Enrolled62ConditionsAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)ArmsActive eTNS, Sham eTNS
NCT05374187 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

Efficacy of External Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation for Treatment of ADHD

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of California, Los AngelesRan2022 to 2026Enrolled218ConditionsAttention-Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderArmsActive eTNS, Sham eTNS
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Event-related brain oscillations in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2022
    Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Infant attention and frontal EEG neuromarkers of childhood ADHD.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  9. Review
  10. Research progress of tDCS in the treatment of ADHD.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sandra K LooSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California. Electronic address: sloo@mednet.ucla.edu.
Giulia C SalgariSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
Alissa EllisSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
Jennifer CowenSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
Andrea DillonSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
James J McGoughSemel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center · US

Funding

Developmental Pilot Study of External Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation for ADHDR34MH101282 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI LOO, SANDRA K, MCGOUGH, JAMES JOHN · 2014 to 2016
$693k
NIMH NIH HHS R34 MH101282
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe current study applies a precision medicine approach to trigeminal nerve simulation (TNS), a Food and Drug Administration-approved neuromodulation treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), by testing secondary outcomes of cognitive and electroencephalographic [EEG] predictors of treatment response among subjects from the original randomized controlled trial.

methodChildren aged 8 to 12 years with ADHD, were randomized to 4 weeks of active or sham TNS treatment, after which the sham group crossed over into 4 weeks of open-label treatment. TNS treatment responders (RESP) had an ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) Total score reduction of ≥25%, whereas nonresponders (NR) had <25% reduction posttreatment. Assessments included weekly behavioral ratings and pre-/posttreatment cognitive EEG measures.

resultsThe final sample was 25 RESP and 26 NR comprising 34 male and 17 female children, with a mean (SD) age of 10.3 (1.4) years. Baseline measures that significantly differentiated RESP from NR included: lower working memory, lower spelling and mathematics achievement, deficits on behavioral ratings of executive function (BRIEF), and lower resting state EEG power in the right frontal (F4) region (all p values <.05). Compared to NRs, responders showed significantly increased right frontal EEG power with TNS treatment, which was predictive of improved executive functions and ADHD symptomatology (β = 0.65, p < .001). When EEG findings and behavior were modeled together, the area under the curve (AUC) for BRIEF Working Memory scale was 0.83 (p = .003), indicating moderate prediction of treatment response.

conclusionChildren with ADHD who have executive dysfunction are more likely to be TNS responders and show modulation of right frontal brain activity, improved/normalized executive functions, and ADHD symptom reduction. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Developmental Pilot Study of External Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation for ADHD; http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT02155608.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityChildCognitionElectroencephalographyExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansMalePilot ProjectsTreatment OutcomeTrigeminal NerveBRIEFelectroencephalographyexecutive functionsneuromodulation

Identifiers

PMID33068751
PMCPMC9714960
OpenAlexW3092754701

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

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.