Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39863318›Full record

Trial reportThe journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease2025

High definition transcranial direct current stimulation as an intervention for cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's dementia: A randomized controlled trial.

Christian LoBue, Hsueh-Sheng Chiang, Amber Salter, Shawn McClintock, Trung P Nguyen, Rebecca Logan, Eric Smernoff, Seema Pandya, John Hart

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05270408 (Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT05270408 nacompletednot on this map

Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterRan2022 to 2024Enrolled33ConditionsAlzheimer Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, DementiaArmsActive Transcranial direct current stimulation (STARStim 8), Sham Transcranial direct current stimulation (STARStim 8)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
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

9 authors.

Christian LoBueDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. Electronic address: Christian.lobue@utsouthwestern.edu.
Hsueh-Sheng ChiangDepartment of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Amber SalterDepartment of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Shawn McClintockDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Trung P NguyenDepartment of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Rebecca LoganDepartment of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Eric SmernoffAT&T Memory Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Seema PandyaAT&T Memory Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
John HartDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA.

Funding

UT Southwestern Center for Translational MedicineUL1TR003163 · NCATS · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI TOTO, ROBERT DANIEL · 2021 to 2025
$39.3M
Pathways Relating Amnestic MCI to a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury History (PATH)K23AG075261 · NIA · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI Christian Barrett LoBue · 2022 to 2026
$675k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR003163NIA NIH HHS K23 AG075261
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecent disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease show promise to slow cognitive decline, but show no efficacy towards reducing symptoms already manifested.

objectivesTo investigate the efficacy of a novel noninvasive brain stimulation technique in modulating cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's dementia (AD).

designPilot, randomized, double-blind, parallel, sham-controlled study

settingClinical research site at UT Southwestern Medical Center

participantsTwenty-five participants with clinical diagnoses of AD were enrolled from cognition specialty clinics.

interventionTreatment consisted of high definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) delivered for 20 min over the medial prefrontal cortex. Ten sessions of sham, 1 mA, or 2 mA stimulation were received. MEASUREMENTS: Cognitive outcomes were measured at baseline, after the last HD-tDCS session, and 8-weeks post-treatment. The primary outcome was change in total learning and delayed recall on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) immediately post-treatment and at 8-weeks. Secondary outcomes included measures of language, processing speed, and executive functioning. A multi-stage approach was used to examine cognitive outcomes, which included evaluation of effect sizes, statistical effects, and rate of clinically meaningful responses.

resultsIn this pilot trial, no statistically significant differences on cognitive outcomes were found between sham and active HD-tDCS immediately post-treatment (p's > 0.05). However, moderate-to-large effect sizes were identified for enhanced RAVLT total learning (Cohen's d = 0.69-0.93) and phonemic fluency (d = 1.08-1.49) for both active HD-tDCS conditions compared to sham, with rates of clinically relevant improvement between 25 and 33%. Meaningful enhancement persisted to 8 weeks only for the 1 mA condition.

conclusionsMultiple sessions of HD-tDCS over the medial prefrontal cortex appears to have potential to produce meaningful cognitive enhancements in a proportion of patients having AD with improvements maintained for at least 8 weeks in some. TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05270408). Registered December 30, 2021.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseCognitive DysfunctionTranscranial Direct Current StimulationAgedAged, 80 and overCognitionDouble-Blind MethodExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansMaleNeuropsychological TestsPilot ProjectsPrefrontal CortexTreatment OutcomeAlzheimer's diseaseNeurodegenerative disordersNeuropsychological testsTranscranial direct current stimulationTranscranial electrical stimulation

Identifiers

PMID39863318
PMCPMC11895854

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.