ArticlePLoS biology2023
Transcranial electrical stimulation: How can a simple conductor orchestrate complex brain activity?
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Predicting neural responses to intra- and extra-cranial electric brain stimulation by means of the reciprocity theorem.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Brain stimulation preferentially influences long-range projections.Science advances · 2025Article
- Generalized learning induced by training and tDCS is predicted by prefrontal cortical morphology.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2025Article
- Electroencephalography-driven brain-network models for personalized interpretation and prediction of neural oscillations.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Article
- Control of Inhibition-Stabilized Oscillations in Wilson-Cowan Networks with Homeostatic Plasticity.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Neuroplastic effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS): from mechanisms to clinical trials.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Improving working memory by electrical stimulation and cross-frequency coupling.Molecular brain · 2024Article
- Temporal interference stimulation disrupts spike timing in the primate brain.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Dopamine Alters the Effect of Brain Stimulation on Decision-Making.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2023Article
- Exploring the Frontiers of Neuroimaging: A Review of Recent Advances in Understanding Brain Functioning and Disorders.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Effects of non-invasive brain stimulation for degenerative cerebellar ataxia: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Excitation-Inhibition Imbalance in Migraine: From Neurotransmitters to Brain Oscillations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) is one of the oldest and yet least understood forms of brain stimulation. The idea that a weak electrical stimulus, applied outside the head, can meaningfully affect neural activity is often regarded as mysterious. Here, we argue that the direct effects of tES are not so mysterious: Extensive data from a wide range of model systems shows it has appreciable effects on the activity of individual neurons. Instead, the real mysteries are how tES interacts with the brain's own activity and how these dynamics can be controlled to produce desirable therapeutic effects. These are challenging problems, akin to repairing a complex machine while it is running, but they are not unique to tES or even neuroscience. We suggest that models of coupled oscillators, a common tool for studying interactions in other fields, may provide valuable insights. By combining these tools with our growing, interdisciplinary knowledge of brain dynamics, we are now in a good position to make progress in this area and meet the high demand for effective neuromodulation in neuroscience and psychiatry.
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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.