ArticleCerebral cortex communications2022
Boosting working memory: uncovering the differential effects of tDCS and tACS.
Article in Cerebral cortex communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation for neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic review of treatment parameters and outcomes.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in the Enhancement of Working Memory Performance in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Meta-Analysis.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2023Pooled 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
- Haemodynamic correlates of bilateral 6 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation during working memory enhancement revealed by fNIRS.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Targeting Executive Function and Language Impairments with tACS Combined with Behavioral Intervention in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Case-Series, Pilot Investigation.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Gamma Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Enhances Working Memory Ability in Healthy People: An EEG Microstate Study.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Exploring the n-back task: insights, applications, and future directions.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Right Frontal Gamma Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Modulates Optimism Biases.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Article
- Transcranial Brain Stimulation for Neurodevelopmental Disorders : Neuromodulation and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Galen medical journal · 2025Review
- Exploring the Prospects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) as a Therapeutic Intervention for Post-Stroke Motor Recovery: A Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Limitations associated with transcranial direct current stimulation for enhancement: considerations of performance tradeoffs in active-duty Soldiers.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Article
- Theta transcranial alternating current stimulation over the prefrontal cortex enhances theta power and working memory performance.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Behavioral Validation of Individualized Low-Intensity Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) Protocols.eNeuro · 2023Article
- The Rehabilitation Potential of Neurostimulation for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Animal and Human Studies.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- Causally informed activity flow models provide mechanistic insight into network-generated cognitive activations.NeuroImage · 2023Article
- Comparison of transcranial brain stimulation approaches: prefrontal theta alternating current stimulation enhances working memory performance.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation combined with sound stimulation improves cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is essential for reasoning, decision-making, and problem solving. Recently, there has been an increasing effort in improving WM through noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS), especially transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation (tDCS/tACS). Studies suggest that tDCS and tACS can modulate WM performance, but large variability in research approaches hinders the identification of optimal stimulation protocols and interpretation of study results. Moreover, it is unclear whether tDCS and tACS differentially affect WM. Here, we summarize and compare studies examining the effects of tDCS and tACS on WM performance in healthy adults. Following PRISMA-selection criteria, our systematic review resulted in 43 studies (29 tDCS, 11 tACS, 3 both) with a total of 1826 adult participants. For tDCS, only 4 out of 23 single-session studies reported effects on WM, while 7 out of 9 multi-session experiments showed positive effects on WM training. For tACS, 10 out of 14 studies demonstrated effects on WM, which were frequency dependent and robust for frontoparietal stimulation. Our review revealed no reliable effect of single-session tDCS on WM but moderate effects of multi-session tDCS and single-session tACS. We discuss the implications of these findings and future directions in the emerging research field of NIBS and WM.
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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.