ReviewFrontiers in systems neuroscience2022
Entrainment and Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity - A Review of Proposed Mechanisms of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation.
Review in Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review on multifocal non-invasive brain stimulation on motor function enhancement.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Is transcranial alternating current stimulation effective for improving working memory? A three-level meta-analysis.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2025Pooled it
- Theta tACS Over the Medial Frontal Cortex Modulates Executive Function in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Study.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Trial
- Dissociable effects of β-tACS on spectral power and network organization for proximal versus distal upper-limb recovery in subacute stroke: double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial with high-density EEG.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Trial
- A new effective treatment for dyslexia based on dorsal visual stream neuromodulation.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2026Trial
- Randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled pilot trial of theta-band transcranial alternating current stimulation during cognitive training in mild Alzheimer's disease.Translational psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Prophylactic Effect of Prefrontal Alternating Current Stimulation on Postoperative Sleep Disturbance in Patients Undergoing Gynecological Laparoscope: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Trial.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Trial
- Peak Alpha Frequency Is Not Significantly Altered by Five Days of Experimental Pain and Repetitive Transcranial Stimulation of the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Trial
- Cognitive and Neuropsychiatric Effects of 40 Hz tACS Simultaneously with Cognitive Exercises for Dementia: A Randomized, Crossover, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Trial
- Temporal Interference Stimulation Boosts Working Memory Performance in the Frontoparietal Network.Human brain mapping · 2025Trial
- Repetitive temporal interference stimulation improves jump performance but not the postural stability in young healthy males: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Trial
- Behaviourally driven closed-loop beta-tACS enhances beta activity and motor behaviour.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cerebellar Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation: Frequency-Specific Modulation of Human Gait.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Hippocampal rhythm modulation via frequency-tuned trigeminal nerve stimulation.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Effects of Extracellular Resistance on Neuronal Sensitivity Under Weak Alternating Electric Field Stimulation: A Computational Study.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Cutaneous Alternating Current Stimulation Can Cause a Phasic Modulation of Speech Perception.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Epicranial electrical stimulation improves non-navigational spatial memory in macaque monkeys.Neuroimage. Reports · 2026Article
- Non-invasive neuromodulation techniques for cognitive impairment intervention.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) above individual peak alpha frequency (PAF) does not shift PAF or experimental pain sensitivity: an exploratory study.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Specific frequency bands of neural oscillations have been correlated with a range of cognitive and behavioral effects (e.g., memory and attention). The causal role of specific frequencies may be investigated using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a non-invasive brain stimulation method. TACS involves applying a sinusoidal current between two or more electrodes attached on the scalp, above neural regions that are implicated in cognitive processes of interest. The theorized mechanisms by which tACS affects neural oscillations have implications for the exact stimulation frequency used, as well as its anticipated effects. This review outlines two main mechanisms that are thought to underlie tACS effects - entrainment, and spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP). Entrainment suggests that the stimulated frequency synchronizes the ongoing neural oscillations, and is thought to be most effective when the stimulated frequency is at or close to the endogenous frequency of the targeted neural network. STDP suggests that stimulation leads to synaptic changes based on the timing of neuronal firing in the target neural network. According to the principles of STDP, synaptic strength is thought to increase when pre-synaptic events occur prior to post-synaptic events (referred to as long-term potentiation, LTP). Conversely, when post-synaptic events occur prior to pre-synaptic events, synapses are thought to be weakened (referred to as long-term depression, LTD). In this review, we summarize the theoretical frameworks and critically review the tACS evidence for each hypothesis. We also discuss whether each mechanism alone can account for tACS effects or whether a combined account is necessary.
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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.