ReviewBrain and behavior2022
No add-on effect of tDCS on fatigue and depression in chronic stroke patients: A randomized sham-controlled trial combining tDCS with computerized cognitive training.
Review in Brain and behavior, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of brain-computer interface with functional electrical stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, and conventional therapy on upper limb recovery after stroke: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of cognitive training on patients with breast cancer reporting cognitive changes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Combining transcranial electrical stimulation with training in older adults: Effects on dual-task ability.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Trial
- Dual-tDCS combined with sensorimotor training promotes upper limb function in subacute stroke patients: A randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled study.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Trial
- A double-blind randomized control trial of transcranial direct current stimulation in post-stroke fatigue.Frontiers in neurologyTrial
- Post-Stroke Motor Fatigability: Defining and Studying the Impairments That Emerge During Prolonged Motor Tasks.Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · 2026Review
- Post-stroke fatigue - a multidimensional problem or a cluster of disorders? A case for phenotyping post-stroke fatigue.The Journal of physiology · 2025Review
- Behavioral and Neural correlates of Post-STROKE Fatigue: A randomized controlled trial protocol.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- The Efficacy of the Addition of tDCS and TENS to an Education and Exercise Program in Subjects with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Is non-invasive neuromodulation a viable technique to improve neuroplasticity in individuals with acquired brain injury? A review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Review
- Mechanisms of Post-Stroke Fatigue: A Follow-Up From the Third Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable.Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · 2024Review
- Study protocol of a double-blind randomized control trial of transcranial direct current stimulation in post-stroke fatigue.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- No add-on effect of tDCS on fatigue and depression in chronic stroke patients: A randomized sham-controlled trial combining tDCS with computerized cognitive training.Brain and behavior · 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
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFatigue and emotional distress rank high among self-reported unmet needs in life after stroke. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may have the potential to alleviate these symptoms for some patients, but the acceptability and effects for chronic stroke survivors need to be explored in randomized controlled trials.
methodsUsing a randomized sham-controlled parallel design, we evaluated whether six sessions of 1 mA tDCS (anodal over F3, cathodal over O2) combined with computerized cognitive training reduced self-reported symptoms of fatigue and depression. Among the 74 chronic stroke patients enrolled at baseline, 54 patients completed the intervention. Measures of fatigue and depression were collected at five time points spanning a 2 months period.
resultsWhile symptoms of fatigue and depression were reduced during the course of the intervention, Bayesian analyses provided evidence for no added beneficial effect of tDCS. Less severe baseline symptoms were associated with higher performance improvement in select cognitive tasks, and study withdrawal was higher in patients with more fatigue and younger age. Time-resolved symptom analyses by a network approach suggested higher centrality of fatigue items (except item 1 and 2) than depression items.
conclusionThe results reveal no add-on effect of tDCS on fatigue or depression but support the notion of fatigue as a relevant clinical symptom with possible implications for treatment adherence and response.
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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.