Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38060075›Full record

SynthesisNeuropsychology review2025

The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on the Cognitive Functions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Abdolvahed Narmashiri, Fatemeh Akbari

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Neuropsychology review, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
7.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Effect of HD-tDCS targeting the DLPFC on cognitive ability and flight simulation performance in healthy adults.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
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  16. [A review of noninvasive brain-computer interfaces combined with transcranial electrical stimulation for neural rehabilitation].Sheng wu yi xue gong cheng xue za zhi = Journal of biomedical engineering = Shengwu yixue gongchengxue zazhi · 2026
    Review
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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

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Abdolvahed NarmashiriSchool of Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran, Iran. a_narmashiri@ipm.ir.
Fatemeh AkbariDepartment of Psychology, Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences · IRIslamic Azad University, Tehran · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Previous studies have investigated the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive functions. However, these studies reported inconsistent results due to differences in experiment design, measurements, and stimulation parameters. Nonetheless, there is a lack of meta-analyses and review studies on tDCS and its impact on cognitive functions, including working memory, inhibition, flexibility, and theory of mind. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of tDCS studies published from the earliest available data up to October 2021, including studies reporting the effects of tDCS on cognitive functions in human populations. Therefore, these systematic review and meta-analysis aim to comprehensively analyze the effects of anodal and cathodal tDCS on cognitive functions by investigating 69 articles with a total of 5545 participants. Our study reveals significant anodal tDCS effects on various cognitive functions. Specifically, we observed improvements in working memory reaction time (RT), inhibition RT, flexibility RT, theory of mind RT, working memory accuracy, theory of mind accuracy and flexibility accuracy. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate noteworthy cathodal tDCS effects, enhancing working memory accuracy, inhibition accuracy, flexibility RT, flexibility accuracy, theory of mind RT, and theory of mind accuracy. Notably, regarding the influence of stimulation parameters of tDCS on cognitive functions, the results indicated significant differences across various aspects, including the timing of stimulation (online vs. offline studies), population type (clinical vs. healthy studies), stimulation duration (< 15 min vs. > 15 min), electrical current intensities (1-1.5 m.A vs. > 1.5 m.A), stimulation sites (right frontal vs. left frontal studies), age groups (young vs. older studies), and different cognitive tasks in each cognitive functioning aspect. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that tDCS can effectively enhance cognitive task performance, offering valuable insights into the potential benefits of this method for cognitive improvement.

Indexed as

CognitionExecutive FunctionInhibition, PsychologicalMemory, Short-TermTheory of MindTranscranial Direct Current StimulationHumansBrain stimulationExecutive functionsFlexibilityInhibitionMeta-analysisTheory of mindTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)Working memory

Identifiers

PMID38060075
OpenAlexW4389449060

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.