ReviewBrain sciences2021
The Role of Expectation and Beliefs on the Effects of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation.
Review in Brain sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cerebellar stimulation in schizophrenia: A systematic review of the evidence and an overview of the methods.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Training-induced cognitive coupling emerges under sham but not active transcranial electrical stimulation in older adults: a triple-blind, randomized, sham-controlled study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Trial
- Laser acupuncture improves cortical excitability and behavioural performance in healthy individuals: a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Trial
- Testing the effectiveness of combined attention modification training with right dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex theta-burst stimulation on reducing levels of anxiety and attentional bias.Experimental brain research · 2025Trial
- Effects of transcranial electrical stimulation of the cerebellum, parietal cortex, anterior cingulate, and motor cortex on postural adaptation.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Home-Based, Remotely Supervised Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves the Overall Pain Experience of Older Adults With Knee Osteoarthritis.Pain research & management · 2025Trial
- Independent effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and social influence on pain.Pain · 2025Trial
- Placebo effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on motor skill acquisition.Neuroscience letters · 2023Trial
- Immediate and long-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pain relief in older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A pilot study.Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.)Trial
- Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) at Fp3-Fp2 Reduces the Face Inversion Effect: Evidence Against an Expectancy Account.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Sustained benefits of closed-loop transcranial alternating current stimulation (CL-tACS) on depression: a 12-week open-label clinical trial.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of adjunctive transcranial alternating current stimulation in bipolar depression: A randomized controlled trial.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for Core Symptoms of Chronic Primary Pain: A Meta-Analysis of RCTs.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Heterogeneity of treatment effects in transcranial direct current stimulation for knee osteoarthritis pain and symptoms.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Neural and psychophysical predictors of treatment response to transcranial direct current stimulation and mindfulness-based meditation for knee osteoarthritis pain.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Tactile perception and tolerability thresholds of TMS characterized by intensity across locations and frequencies.Clinical neurophysiology practice · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- The influence of informational priming on motor expectancy in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Brain connectivity and transcriptional changes induced by rTMS in first-episode major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques are used in clinical and cognitive neuroscience to induce a mild magnetic or electric field in the brain to modulate behavior and cortical activation. Despite the great body of literature demonstrating promising results, unexpected or even paradoxical outcomes are sometimes observed. This might be due either to technical and methodological issues (e.g., stimulation parameters, stimulated brain area), or to participants' expectations and beliefs before and during the stimulation sessions. In this narrative review, we present some studies showing that placebo and nocebo effects, associated with positive and negative expectations, respectively, could be present in NIBS trials, both in experimental and in clinical settings. The lack of systematic evaluation of subjective expectations and beliefs before and after stimulation could represent a caveat that overshadows the potential contribution of placebo and nocebo effects in the outcome of NIBS trials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.