Trial reportThe journal of headache and pain2021
Tracking tDCS induced grey matter changes in episodic migraine: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in The journal of headache and pain, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03237754 (Clinical and Neuronal Changes in Chronic and Episodic Migraine Patients After Neurostimulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 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.
Clinical and Neuronal Changes in Chronic and Episodic Migraine Patients After Neurostimulation
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biomarker use in predicting transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) response: a systematic scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Imaging the brain and vascular reactions to headache treatments: a systematic review.The journal of headache and pain · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Intensity of Post-dural Puncture Headache: Results of Two Randomized Sham Controlled Trials.Neurology and therapy · 2025Article
- Non-invasive Brain Stimulation for Chronic Pain: State of the Art and Future Directions.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Review
- Treatment with morning blue light increases left amygdala volume and sleep duration among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
- The brain structure and function abnormalities of migraineurs: A systematic review and neuroimaging meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOccipital transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an effective and safe treatment for migraine attack prevention. Structural brain alterations have been found in migraineurs in regions related to pain modulation and perception, including occipital areas. However, whether these structural alterations can be dynamically modulated through tDCS treatment is understudied.
objectiveTo track longitudinally grey matter volume changes in occipital areas in episodic migraineurs during and up to five months after occipital tDCS treatment in a single-blind, and sham-controlled study.
methods24 episodic migraineurs were randomized to either receive verum or sham occipital tDCS treatment for 28 days. To investigate dynamic grey matter volume changes patients underwent structural MRI at baseline (prior to treatment), 1.5 months and 5.5 months (after completion of treatment). 31 healthy controls were scanned with the same MRI protocol. Morphometry measures assessed rate of changes over time and between groups by means of tensor-based morphometry.
resultsBefore treatment, migraineurs reported 5.6 monthly migraine days on average. A cross-sectional analysis revealed grey matter volume increases in the left lingual gyrus in migraineurs compared to controls. Four weeks of tDCS application led to a reduction of 1.9 migraine days/month and was paralleled by grey matter volume decreases in the left lingual gyrus in the treatment group; its extent overlapping with that seen at baseline.
conclusionThis study shows that migraineurs have increased grey matter volume in the lingual gyrus, which can be modified by tDCS. Tracking structural plasticity in migraineurs provides a potential neuroimaging biomarker for treatment monitoring.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03237754 . Registered 03 August 2017 - retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03237754 .
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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.