Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37224229›Full record

SynthesisScience translational medicine2023

A meta-analysis suggests that tACS improves cognition in healthy, aging, and psychiatric populations.

Shrey Grover, Renata Fayzullina, Breanna M Bullard, Victoria Levina, Robert M G Reinhart

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · greenAbstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Science translational medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 73 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
73citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
16.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT06202872 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Memory Enhancement Using Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

TypeinterventionalSponsorAmsterdam UMC, location VUmcRan2024 to 2026Enrolled26ConditionsAlzheimer Disease, Mild Cognitive ImpairmentArmsGamma (40 Hz) tACS at the precuneus region, Sham tACS at the precuneus region
NCT06231732 naunknown statusnot on this map

The Impact of High-frequency Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (Hi-tACS) on Cognitive Function in Patients With Schizophrenia: a Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorSir Run Run Shaw HospitalRan2023 to 2024Enrolled12ConditionsSchizophreniaArmshigh-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation, sham high-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

73 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation on cognitive function in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
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13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Shrey GroverDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3168-5543
Renata FayzullinaDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7212-8685
Breanna M BullardDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4506-1790
Victoria LevinaDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7350-2373
Robert M G ReinhartDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2156-4633
Boston University · USUniversity of California, Berkeley · USYale University · US

Funding

Improving Working Memory in Older Adults by Restoring Large-Scale Cortical InteractionsR01AG063775 · NIA · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI REINHART, ROBERT · 2019 to 2023
$2.1M
Causal Restructuring of Neural Rhythms Improves Adaptive BehaviorR01MH114877 · NIMH · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI REINHART, ROBERT · 2018 to 2022
$2.1M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG063775NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH114877
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has attracted interest as a technique for causal investigations into how rhythmic fluctuations in brain neural activity influence cognition and for promoting cognitive rehabilitation. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of tACS on cognitive function across 102 published studies, which included 2893 individuals in healthy, aging, and neuropsychiatric populations. A total of 304 effects were extracted from these 102 studies. We found modest to moderate improvements in cognitive function with tACS treatment that were evident in several cognitive domains, including working memory, long-term memory, attention, executive control, and fluid intelligence. Improvements in cognitive function were generally stronger after completion of tACS ("offline" effects) than during tACS treatment ("online" effects). Improvements in cognitive function were greater in studies that used current flow models to optimize or confirm neuromodulation targets by stimulating electric fields generated in the brain by tACS protocols. In studies targeting multiple brain regions concurrently, cognitive function changed bidirectionally (improved or decreased) according to the relative phase, or alignment, of the alternating current in the two brain regions (in phase versus antiphase). We also noted improvements in cognitive function separately in older adults and in individuals with neuropsychiatric illnesses. Overall, our findings contribute to the debate surrounding the effectiveness of tACS for cognitive rehabilitation, quantitatively demonstrate its potential, and indicate further directions for optimal tACS clinical study design.

Indexed as

Transcranial Direct Current StimulationAgedAgingBrainCognitionCognitive TrainingHumans

Identifiers

PMID37224229
PMCPMC10860714
OpenAlexW4377966991

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

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.