SynthesisFrontiers in aging neuroscience2024
A meta-analysis of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with cognitive training on working memory in healthy older adults.
Synthesis in Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with cognitive rehabilitation on cognitive function and activities of daily living in patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Anodal tDCS over right DLPFC does not improve visuospatial working memory in schizophrenia: a single-session, sham-controlled study.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation and cognitive training in the treatment of cognitive deficit in schizophrenia: a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Multimodal imaging-based targeting approach for network-level brain stimulation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neuromodulation of Working Memory: Mechanisms, Targets, and Behavioral Outcomes.Neuroscience insights · 2026Review
- Enhancing positive memory schemas with tDCS: a pilot study.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Diabetes: A Focused and Mechanistic Review of Symptom and Function Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis (MS)-A Review and Insight into Possible Mechanisms of Action.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Working memory (WM) loss, which can lead to a loss of independence, and declines in the quality of life of older adults, is becoming an increasingly prominent issue affecting the ageing population. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, is emerging as a potential alternative to pharmacological treatments that shows promise for enhancing WM capacity and May enhance the effects of cognitive training (CT) interventions. Objective: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore how different tDCS protocols in combination with CT enhanced WM in healthy older adults. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the effects of tDCS combined with CT on WM in healthy older adults were retrieved from the Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Scopus and the Cochrane Library databases. The search time period ranged from database inception to January 15, 2024. Methodological quality of the trials was assessed using the risk-of-bias criteria for RCTs from the Cochrane Collaboration Network, and RevMan 5.3 (Cochrane, London, United Kingdom) was used for the meta-analysis of the final literature outcomes. Results: Six RCTs with a total of 323 participants were ultimately included. The results of the meta-analysis show that tDCS combined with CT statistically significantly improves WM performance compared to the control sham stimulation group in healthy older adults [standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.11-0.59, Conclusion: tDCS combined with CT statistically significantly improves WM in healthy older adults. For the stimulus parameters, long-term interventions (≥ 10 sessions) with a stimulation intensity of 2 mA are the most effective.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
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 Socratic graph.