SynthesisFrontiers in physiology2025
Meta-analysis of the acute effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation on athletic performance.
Synthesis in Frontiers in physiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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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
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Improving Performance in Soccer Players-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Immediate excitatory effect of transcranial ultrasound intensity on the human primary motor cortex: a double-blind, sham-controlled and crossover study.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Systematically evaluate the acute effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) on athletes' sport-specific performance and identify the optimal stimulation parameters and target brain regions for enhancing sport-specific performance. Methods: Search PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and other databases to include randomized controlled trials studying the effects of anodal tDCS on sports performance in healthy athletes. Use a random-effects model to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD), assess heterogeneity, and evaluate influencing factors. Additionally, conduct three subgroup analyses: (1) based on stimulated brain areas (M1, PFC, TC, CB); (2) based on different sports performance domains (endurance, strength, precision skill tasks, competitive-collaborative skills) for cluster analysis; (3) tDCS protocol parameters (current intensity and stimulation duration). Results: This study included 31 articles, covering 473 athletes. The meta-analysis results showed that the acute effect of a-tDCS significantly improved athletes' specific sports performance, with a moderate effect size (SMD = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.23-0.54, p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that M1 stimulation had the most consistent effect (SMD = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.15-0.48, p < 0.001), followed by PFC stimulation (SMD = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.03-0.76, p = 0.03). a-tDCS significantly enhanced athletes' endurance performance (SMD = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.20-0.72, p < 0.001) and competitive-collaborative skill tasks (SMD = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.10-0.80, p = 0.01). Analysis of stimulation parameters indicated that a moderate current intensity of 1.6-2.0 mA (SMD = 0.38, p < 0.001) and a stimulation duration of 16-20 min (SMD = 0.45, p < 0.001) were the optimal protocols for enhancing sports performance. Conclusion: The acute effects of a-tDCS significantly enhance athletes' endurance and competitive-collaborative skill performance, particularly when targeting the M1 and PFC regions. The optimal stimulation protocol involves a moderate current intensity (1.6-2.0 mA) and duration (16-20 min). Future research should further optimize stimulation parameters and explore long-term effects to enhance the application of a-tDCS in sports training. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=103158, identifier CRD42025103158.
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