Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33129331›Full record

SynthesisJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2020

Virtual reality and non-invasive brain stimulation for rehabilitation applications: a systematic review.

Raymundo Cassani, Guilherme S Novak, Tiago H Falk, Alcyr A Oliveira

Registry-linked trialAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07114809 (Impact of Anodal tDCS and Virtual Reality on Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis), which is not on this map. Cited by 40 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT07114809 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Impact of Anodal tDCS and Virtual Reality on Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: a Protocol of a Double Blind, Randomized, Prospective, Controlled Study.

TypeinterventionalSponsorOspedale Policlinico San MartinoRan2024 to 2026Enrolled80ConditionsCognitive Impairment, Multiple SclerosisArmsExperimental group (EG) performing Anodal-tDCS (A-tDCS) and VR, Sham Comparator: Control group (CG) performing sham-tDCS (S-tCDS) and VR
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Review
  7. Article
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  14. Four dimensions of individualization in brain stimulation for psychiatric disorders: context, target, dose, and timing.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
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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.

Raymundo CassaniInstitut National de La Recherche Scientique (INRS-EMT), University of Quebec, 800 rue de la Gauchetière O, Montreal, QC, H5A-1K6, Canada. raymundo.cassani@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-3509-5543
Guilherme S NovakDepartment of Psychology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Rua Sarmento Leite, 245, Porto Alegre, CEP 90.050-170, Brazil.
Tiago H FalkInstitut National de La Recherche Scientique (INRS-EMT), University of Quebec, 800 rue de la Gauchetière O, Montreal, QC, H5A-1K6, Canada.
Alcyr A OliveiraDepartment of Psychology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Rua Sarmento Leite, 245, Porto Alegre, CEP 90.050-170, Brazil.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The present article reports the results of a systematic review on the potential benefits of the combined use of virtual reality (VR) and non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) as a novel approach for rehabilitation. VR and NIBS are two rehabilitation techniques that have been consistently explored by health professionals, and in recent years there is strong evidence of the therapeutic benefits of their combined use. In this work, we reviewed research articles that report the combined use of VR and two common NIBS techniques, namely transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Relevant queries to six major bibliographic databases were performed to retrieve original research articles that reported the use of the combination VR-NIBS for rehabilitation applications. A total of 16 articles were identified and reviewed. The reviewed studies have significant differences in the goals, materials, methods, and outcomes. These differences are likely caused by the lack of guidelines and best practices on how to combine VR and NIBS techniques. Five therapeutic applications were identified: stroke, neuropathic pain, cerebral palsy, phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder, and multiple sclerosis rehabilitation. The majority of the reviewed studies reported positive effects of the use of VR-NIBS. However, further research is still needed to validate existing results on larger sample sizes and across different clinical conditions. For these reasons, in this review recommendations for future studies exploring the combined use of VR and NIBS are presented to facilitate the comparison among works.

Indexed as

Virtual RealityHumansNeurological RehabilitationTranscranial Direct Current StimulationTranscranial Magnetic StimulationNon-invasive brain stimulationRehabilitationTranscranial direct current stimulationTranscranial magnetic stimulationVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID33129331
PMCPMC7603766

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.