Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33124586›Full record

ReviewClinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology2020

Effects of Non-invasive Neurostimulation on Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Ali Khaleghi, Hadi Zarafshan, Safa Rafiei Vand, Mohammad Reza Mohammadi

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
52citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

52 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Trial
  5. 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 · 2024
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  10. The Therapeutic Effect of High-definition 1-Hz Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in PTSD: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
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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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ali KhaleghiPsychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9035-7075
Hadi ZarafshanPsychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3188-5046
Safa Rafiei VandFaculty of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4749-9721
Mohammad Reza MohammadiPsychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7061-5938
Roozbeh Hospital · IRAmirkabir University of Technology · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by major impairments in social communication, stereotyped and ritualistic behaviors and deficits in sensory reactivity. Recently, noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) methods, namely transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), have been examined as possible new therapeutic options for modifying the pathological neuroplasticity involved in neuropsychiatric disorders including ASD. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review on the therapeutic uses of tDCS and repetitive TMS (rTMS) in ASD patients. A systematic search was performed on Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane and Embase. Original articles reporting the use of tDCS or rTMS to treat ASD were screened and studied by two researchers independently based on PRISMA guidelines. We found 32 eligible studies including 8 tDCS reports, 23 rTMS reports and one report with both tDCS and rTMS. These studies comprised 6 case-reports, 9 non-controlled trials and 17 controlled trials which assessed NIBS effects on the three cognitive, behavioral and biological dimensions in ASD. Existing evidence demonstrates that NIBS methods could be helpful for treating some dimensions of ASD such as repetitive behavior, sociability or some aspects of executive and cognitive functions. However, such evidence should be regarded with care because of the quality of original researches and serious publication bias as well as the heterogeneity of data. Further randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trials with appropriate follow-up periods should be designed to assess the efficacy of NIBS methods for ASD treatment.

Indexed as

AutismBrain.Non-invasive neurostimulationTranscranial direct current stimulationTranscranial magnetic stimulation

Identifiers

PMID33124586
PMCPMC7609207
OpenAlexW3096642410

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.