SynthesisFrontiers in neurology2021
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as a Useful Rehabilitation Strategy to Improve Cognition in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease: An Updated Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Frontiers in neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Transcranial direct current stimulation for learning and memory in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairments: the influence of dosage parameters.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation alone and in combination with rehabilitation therapies on gait and balance among individuals with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinically Relevant Executive Functions Tests Performance after COVID-19.Behavioural neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Information processing speed modulation by electrical brain stimulation in multiple sclerosis: towards individually tailored protocols.Brain communications · 2025Trial
- 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
- Clinical telemonitoring and telerehabilitation of cognition in rare neurological diseases: a scoping review.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- A functional MRI and magnetoencephalography study of the cognitive modulatory effect of transcranial direct current stimulation in early Alzheimer's disease.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Home use of low-intensity transcranial electrical stimulation in clinical practice: an IFCN handbook chapter.Clinical neurophysiology practice · 2026Review
- Nanoparticle-mediated magnetic hyperthermia in the treatment of neurological disorders.Nanomedicine (London, England) · 2025Review
- Exploring Non-Pharmacologic Adjunctive Therapies for Patients with Neurodegenerative Diseases.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Surface Versus Penetrative rTMS Stimulation May Be More Effective for AD Patients with Cerebrovascular Disease.Neuroscience insights · 2025Article
- Combined Effect of tDCS and Motor or Cognitive Activity in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Proof-of-Concept Pilot Study.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- PINK1 knockout rats show premotor cognitive deficits measured through a complex maze.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy of Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Pain in Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Pilot Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- A map of evidence using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve cognition in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI).Frontiers in neuroergonomics · 2023Review
- The impact of regional heterogeneity in whole-brain dynamics in the presence of oscillations.Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2023Article
- Identifying biomarkers for tDCS treatment response in Alzheimer's disease patients: a machine learning approach using resting-state EEG classification.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2023Article
- Neuroprotection and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation: Facts or Fiction?International journal of molecular sciences · 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by cognitive impairment and functional decline increasing with disease progression. Within non-pharmacological interventions, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might represent a cost-effective rehabilitation strategy to implement cognitive abilities with positive implications for functional autonomy and quality-of-life of patients. Our systematic review aimed at evaluating the effects of tDCS upon cognition in people suffering from AD and PD. We searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) into PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Three review authors extracted data of interest, with neuropsychological tests or experimental cognitive tasks scores as outcome measures. A total of 17 RCTs (10 trials for AD and 7 trials for PD) were included. Compared with sham stimulation, tDCS may improve global cognition and recognition memory in patients with AD and also some executive functions (i.e., divided attention, verbal fluency, and reduction of sensitivity to interference) in patients with PD. Criticism remains about benefits for the other investigated cognitive domains. Despite preliminary emerging evidences, larger RCTs with common neuropsychological measures and long-term follow-ups establishing longevity of the observed effects are necessary for future research in applied psychology field, alongside improved clinical guidelines on the neurodegenerative disorders pertaining electrodes montage, sessions number, duration and intensity of the stimulation, and cognitive battery to be used.
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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.