ArticleBrain sciences2026
Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) at Fp3-Fp2 Reduces the Face Inversion Effect: Evidence Against an Expectancy Account.
Article in Brain sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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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Abstract
backgroundAnodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) delivered through the Fp3-Fp2 montage reduces the face inversion effect (FIE), a result now used to argue that perceptual expertise underlies face recognition. Because beliefs about brain stimulation can change behaviour in the absence of any current, the literature rests on a premise that has never been examined: its sham condition provides a neutral baseline. The objective of this study was to test that premise, by establishing whether taking part in a tDCS study, as against no such study, changes performance in this paradigm.
methodsParticipants (
resultsAnodal tDCS halved the FIE relative to both control groups (
conclusionsWithin the paradigm and procedure employed here, the beliefs that accompany taking part in a tDCS study did not change performance. The reduction in the FIE by anodal tDCS at Fp3-Fp2 is therefore unlikely to be an expectancy effect, and the sham control used throughout this literature study can be treated as a valid baseline.
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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.