SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2026
The impact of non-invasive brain stimulation and digital intervention on social cognitive therapy in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: To evaluate the relative efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) and digital interventions for improving social cognition in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, CNKI to February 2026 yielded 50 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed using R, ranking interventions via Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking curve (SUCRA) and assessing evidence certainty with Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINEMA). Results: Across the included trials (mean age range: 2.54 to 20.80 years), among 9 interventions, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) emerged as optimal (SUCRA = 88.24%), significantly outperforming treatment as usual (TAU) (SMD=-1.69, 95% CrI: -2.67, -0.70). This was followed by high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) (84.38%, SMD=-1.60, 95% CrI: -2.32, -0.89), low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LF-rTMS) (74.22%, SMD=-1.36, 95% CrI: -1.77, -0.96), and theta-burst stimulation (TBS) (64.21%, SMD=-1.19, 95% CrI: -2.02, -0.35); all significantly outperformed TAU. Standalone digital interventions ranked lower. Meta-regression showed no significant age moderating effect. Conclusions: tDCS is the most efficacious standalone intervention for ASD social cognitive deficits. We recommend tDCS or TBS clinically and advocate a synergistic paradigm integrating NIBS neural priming with digital training. However, future large-scale, rigorous RCTs are required to further validate both these standalone modalities and the proposed combined protocols. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261337491, identifier CRD420261337491.
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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.