SynthesisNature protocols2022
A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement.
Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic ReviewConsensus Statement
In one paragraph
Synthesis in Nature protocols, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
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
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cognitive training and remediation interventions for substance use disorders: a Delphi consensus study.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Digitalized transcranial electrical stimulation: A consensus statement.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Pooled it
- Investigating the effects of brain stimulation on the neural substrates of inhibition in patients with OCD: A simultaneous tDCS - fMRI study.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Non-invasive stimulation of the human striatum disrupts reinforcement learning of motor skills.Nature human behaviour · 2024Trial
- Dose-response in modulating brain function with transcranial direct current stimulation: From local to network levels.PLoS computational biology · 2023Trial
- Microstructural and functional plasticity following repeated brain stimulation during cognitive training in older adults.Nature communications · 2023Trial
- Report Approval for Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (RATES): expert recommendation based on a Delphi consensus study.Nature protocols · 2026Review
- Low intensity transcranial electric stimulation: Safety, ethical, legal regulatory and application guidelines (2017-2025: An update) - endorsed by the European Society for Brain Stimulation (ESBS) and by the International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN).Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Review
- α -tACS Modulates Reward-Dependent Pupil Responses and Corticostriatal Connectivity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neuromodulation of Working Memory: Mechanisms, Targets, and Behavioral Outcomes.Neuroscience insights · 2026Review
- Article
- Enhancing visual perception by modulating prestimulus alpha and beta power with tRNS.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Will adaptive deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease become a real option soon? A Delphi consensus study.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2025Article
- Reporting checklists in neuroimaging: promoting transparency, replicability, and reproducibility.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Addiction.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- State-Dependent tACS Effects Reveal the Potential Causal Role of Prestimulus Alpha Traveling Waves in Visual Contrast Detection.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- World addiction medicine reports: formation of the International Society of Addiction Medicine Global Expert Network (ISAM-GEN) and its global surveys.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Article
- Investigating the neural mechanisms of transcranial direct current stimulation effects on human cognition: current issues and potential solutions.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- Non-invasive temporal interference electrical stimulation of the human hippocampus.Nature neuroscience · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
75 authors at 20 institutions in 20 countries.
Hamed EkhtiariLaureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA. hekhtiari@laureateinstitute.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6902-8798
Peyman Ghobadi-AzbariDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7898-4914
Axel ThielscherDanish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.
Andrea AntalDepartment of Neurology, University Medical Center Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
Lucia M LiComputational, Cognitive and Clinical Imaging Lab, Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
A Duke ShereenAdvanced Science Research Center, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2293-5611
Yuranny Cabral-CalderinResearch Group Neural and Environmental Rhythms, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany.
Daniel KeeserDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0244-1024
Til Ole BergmannNeuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany.
Asif JamilDepartment of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3497-675X
Ines R ViolanteSchool of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Jorge AlmeidaProaction Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Marcus MeinzerCentre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Hartwig R SiebnerDanish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.
Adam J WoodsCenter for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Charlotte J StaggWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, FMRIB, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Rany AbendSection on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Daria AntonenkoDepartment of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Tibor AuerSchool of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5153-1424
Marc BächingerNeural Control of Movement Lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
Chris BaekenDepartment of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
Helen C BarronWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, FMRIB, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Henry W ChaseDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Jenny CrinionInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8080-6562
Abhishek DattaResearch and Development, Soterix Medical, New York, USA.
Matthew H DavisMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Mohsen EbrahimiIranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9197-3750
Zeinab EsmaeilpourDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.
Brian FalconeNorthrop Grumman Company, Mission Systems, Falls Church, VA, USA.
Valentina FioriDepartment of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
Iman GhodratitoostaniNeurocognitive Engineering Laboratory (NEL), Center for Engineering Applied to Health, Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science (ICMC), University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9098-2663
Gadi GilamSystems Neuroscience and Pain Laboratory, Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Roland H GrabnerEducational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Joel D GreenspanDepartment of Neural and Pain Sciences, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Georg GroenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
Gesa HartwigsenLise Meitner Research Group Cognition and Plasticity, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Tobias U HauserMax Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7997-8137
Christoph S HerrmannExperimental Psychology Lab, Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", European Medical School, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0323-2272
Chi-Hung JuanInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Bart KrekelbergCenter for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1083-6103
Stephanie LefebvreTranslational Research Centre, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Sook-Lei LiewChan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Kristoffer H MadsenDanish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8606-7641
Rasoul Mahdavifar-KhayatiDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
Nastaran MalmirIranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Paola MarangoloDepartment of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Andrew K MartinCentre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Timothy J MeekerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1833-6536
Hossein Mohaddes ArdabiliPsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Ibn-e-Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Marius MoisaZurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Davide MomiKrembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Beni MulyanaLaureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
Alexander OpitzDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Natasza OrlovDepartment of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Patrick RagertInstitute for General Kinesiology and Exercise Science, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Christian C RuffZurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Giulio RuffiniNeuroelectrics Corporation, Cambridge, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Michaela RuttorfComputer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
Arshiya SangchooliIranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9463-2791
Klaus SchellhornneuroConn GmbH, Ilmenau, Germany.
Gottfried SchlaugNeuroimaging-Neuromodulation and Stroke Recovery Laboratories, Department of Neurology, Baystate-University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
Bernhard SehmDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Ghazaleh SoleimaniDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Hosna TavakoliIranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Benjamin ThompsonSchool of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Dagmar TimmannDepartment of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1935-416X
Aki TsuchiyagaitoLaureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
Martin UlrichDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
Johannes VosskuhlExperimental Psychology Lab, Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", European Medical School, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Christiane A WeinrichDepartment of Neurology, University Medical Center Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
Mehran Zare-BidokyIranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2572-8498
Xiaochu ZhangDepartment of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Science, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7541-0130
Benedikt ZoefelMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Michael A NitscheDepartment of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2207-5965
Marom BiksonDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.
City College of New York · USLaureate Institute for Brain Research · USMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences · DETehran University of Medical Sciences · IRUniversity of Zurich · CHCarl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg · DEHvidovre Hospital · DKJohn Radcliffe Hospital · GBShahed University · IRThe University of Queensland · AUTU Dortmund University · DEUniversität Ulm · DEUniversity of Surrey · GBAmirkabir University of Technology · IRCentre for Addiction and Mental Health · CACentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FREssen University Hospital · DEFederico II University Hospital · ITFondazione Santa Lucia · ITHebrew University of Jerusalem · IL
Funding
TRANScranial direct current stimulation for POst-stroke motor Recover - a phase II sTudy (TRANSPORT 2)U01NS102353 · NINDS · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · PI FENG, WUWEI, SCHLAUG, GOTTFRIED · 2018 to 2023
$8.5MSupplement to Effects of global brain health on sensorimotor recovery after strokeR01NS115845 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI LIEW, SOOK-LEI · 2020 to 2024
$3.2MBehaviors related to Human Neural Activity during Experimental Vigilance to PainR01NS107602 · NINDS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI LENZ, FRED · 2018 to 2022
$3.1MTraveling Wave Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation for the Control of Large-Scale Brain NetworksRF1MH124909 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI OPITZ, ALEXANDER · 2020 to 2020
$2.4MImaging the Neural Effects of Transcranial Direct Current StimulationR01MH111874 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST · PI SCHLAUG, GOTTFRIED · 2016 to 2019
$2.2MA tool-box to control and enhance tDCS spatial precisionR01MH111896 · NIMH · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI BIKSON, MAROM · 2016 to 2019
$2.2MOpen-source computational modeling of Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) to enhance dissemination of 1R01NS112996R01NS112996 · NINDS · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI BIKSON, MAROM · 2020 to 2024
$2.0MThe coupled vascular hypothesis for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)R01NS101362 · NINDS · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI BIKSON, MAROM · 2017 to 2021
$1.7MEffects of direct-current stimulation on synaptic plasticityR01NS095123 · NINDS · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · PI PARRA, LUCAS C · 2016 to 2020
$1.7MNeuromodulation by Transcranial Current StimulationR01MH111766 · NIMH · RUTGERS THE STATE UNIV OF NJ NEWARK · PI KREKELBERG, BART · 2016 to 2019
$1.6M"Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program at LaGuardia Community College"T34GM137858 · NIGMS · LAGUARDIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE · PI BIKSON, MAROM, ORTIZ, BENJAMIN D., · 2020 to 2024
$1.5MAn open software solution to integrate non-invasive brain stimulation with functional imaging dataRF1MH117428 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI OPITZ, ALEXANDER · 2019 to 2019
$1.4MBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/S008314/1Medical Research Council MC_UU_00003/4Medical Research Council MC_UU_00005/5Medical Research Council MC_UU_00030/6Medical Research Council MC_UU_12024/3Medical Research Council MR/W008939/1Medical Research Council SUAG044/G101400NICHD NIH HHS K01 HD091283NIDA NIH HHS UG3 DA048502NIGMS NIH HHS T34 GM137858NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH111766NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH111874NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH111896NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH113917NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH117428NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH124909NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS095123NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS101362NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS107602NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS112996NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS115845NINDS NIH HHS R21 NS115018NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS102353Wellcome Trust 102584/Z/13/ZWellcome Trust 106161/Z/14/ZWellcome Trust 203139Wellcome Trust 211155/Z/18/Z
Abstract
Low-intensity transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including alternating or direct current stimulation, applies weak electrical stimulation to modulate the activity of brain circuits. Integration of tES with concurrent functional MRI (fMRI) allows for the mapping of neural activity during neuromodulation, supporting causal studies of both brain function and tES effects. Methodological aspects of tES-fMRI studies underpin the results, and reporting them in appropriate detail is required for reproducibility and interpretability. Despite the growing number of published reports, there are no consensus-based checklists for disclosing methodological details of concurrent tES-fMRI studies. The objective of this work was to develop a consensus-based checklist of reporting standards for concurrent tES-fMRI studies to support methodological rigor, transparency and reproducibility (ContES checklist). A two-phase Delphi consensus process was conducted by a steering committee (SC) of 13 members and 49 expert panelists through the International Network of the tES-fMRI Consortium. The process began with a circulation of a preliminary checklist of essential items and additional recommendations, developed by the SC on the basis of a systematic review of 57 concurrent tES-fMRI studies. Contributors were then invited to suggest revisions or additions to the initial checklist. After the revision phase, contributors rated the importance of the 17 essential items and 42 additional recommendations in the final checklist. The state of methodological transparency within the 57 reviewed concurrent tES-fMRI studies was then assessed by using the checklist. Experts refined the checklist through the revision and rating phases, leading to a checklist with three categories of essential items and additional recommendations: (i) technological factors, (ii) safety and noise tests and (iii) methodological factors. The level of reporting of checklist items varied among the 57 concurrent tES-fMRI papers, ranging from 24% to 76%. On average, 53% of checklist items were reported in a given article. In conclusion, use of the ContES checklist is expected to enhance the methodological reporting quality of future concurrent tES-fMRI studies and increase methodological transparency and reproducibility.
Indexed as
ChecklistTranscranial Direct Current StimulationMagnetic Resonance ImagingReproducibility of Results
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