Trial reportBrain stimulation
Robust enhancement of motor sequence learning with 4 mA transcranial electric stimulation.
Trial report in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Challenges and future directions of transcranial direct current stimulation for depression: insights from a systematic review and meta-analysis.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2025Pooled it
- Outcome measures for electric field modeling in tES and TMS: A systematic review and large-scale modeling study.NeuroImage · 2023Pooled it
- Enhancing astronaut training: effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on manual rendezvous and docking skill acquisition.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation in addition to constraint-induced movement therapy for post-stroke motor recovery (TRANSPORT2): a phase 2, multicentre, randomised, sham-controlled triple-blind trial.The Lancet. Neurology · 2025Trial
- Does Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Primary Motor Cortex Really Enhance Motor Sequence Learning?Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Stroke Motor Recovery: What the TRANSPORT2 Trial Taught Us.Stroke · 2026Review
- Transcranial direct current stimulation modulates primate brain dynamics across states of consciousness.eLife · 2025Article
- Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) in human motor Optimization: Mechanisms, safety, and emerging applications.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2025Review
- Differential Performance of Children and Adults in a Vision-Deprived Maze Spatial Navigation Task and Exploration of the Impact of tDCS over the Right Posterior Parietal Cortex on Performance in Adults.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Generalized learning induced by training and tDCS is predicted by prefrontal cortical morphology.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2025Article
- Repeated tDCS at Clinically Relevant Field Intensity Can Boost Concurrent Motor Learning in Rats.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Optimising transcranial direct current stimulation application for the enhancement of exercise performance: a review.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Review
- Dose-response of tDCS effects on motor learning and cortical excitability: A preregistered study.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Article
- Micro-consolidation occurs when learning an implicit motor sequence, but is not influenced by HIIT exercise.NPJ science of learning · 2024Article
- Small effects of electric field on motor cortical excitability following anodal tDCS.iScience · 2024Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of Primary Motor Cortex over Multiple Days Improves Motor Learning of a Complex Overhand Throwing Task.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Optimized high-definition tDCS in patients with skull defects and skull plates.Frontiers in human 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
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesMotor learning experiments with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) at 2 mA have produced mixed results. We hypothesize that tDCS boosts motor learning provided sufficiently high field intensity on the motor cortex.
methodsIn a single-blinded design, 108 healthy participants received either anodal (N = 36) or cathodal (N = 36) tDCS at 4 mA total, or no stimulation (N = 36) while they practiced a 12-min sequence learning task. Anodal stimulation was delivered across four electrode pairs (1 mA each), with anodes above the right parietal lobe and cathodes above the right frontal lobe. Cathodal stimulation, with reversed polarities, served as an active control for sensation, while the no-stimulation condition established baseline performance. fMRI-localized targets on the primary motor cortex in 10 subjects were used in current flow models to optimize electrode placement for maximal field intensity. A single electrode montage was then selected for all participants.
resultsWe found a significant difference in performance with anodal vs. cathodal stimulation (Cohen's d = 0.71) and vs. no stimulation (d = 0.56). This effect persisted for at least 1 h, and subsequent learning for a new sequence and the opposite hand also improved. Sensation ratings were comparable in the active groups and did not exceed moderate levels. Current flow models suggest the new electrode montage can achieve stronger motor cortex polarization than alternative montages.
conclusionThe present paradigm shows a medium to large effect size and is well-tolerated. It may serve as a go-to experiment for future studies on motor learning and tDCS.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.