Academic Journal
Effects of transcranial electric stimulation on attentional functions in healthy adults: A meta-analysis.
| Τίτλος: | Effects of transcranial electric stimulation on attentional functions in healthy adults: A meta-analysis. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Takahashi T; Communication Science Laboratories, NTT, Inc., 3-1 Morinosato-Wakamiya, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan. Electronic address: toru.ntt.takahashi@ntt.com., Kimura I; Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Kettegård Allé 30 (Afsnit 714), Hvidovre 2650, Denmark; Laboratory for Brain Connectomics Imaging, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan., Vafaei S; Department of Neuroinformatics, The University of Osaka, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan., Takemi M; Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8527, Japan., Kawahara JI; Department of Psychology, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan., Yanagisawa T; Department of Neuroinformatics, The University of Osaka, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Electronic address: tyanagisawa@nsurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp. |
| Πηγή: | Biological psychology [Biol Psychol] 2026 Oct; Vol. 210, pp. 109342. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 05. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Meta-Analysis; Review |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science B.V Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0375566 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6246 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03010511 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Biol Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Amsterdam : Elsevier Science B.V Original Publication: Amsterdam, North-Holland. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Attention*/physiology , Brain*/physiology , Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation*, Humans ; Adult ; Female ; Male ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic |
| Περίληψη: | Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial electric stimulation (tES), are increasingly promoted as methods to enhance attention. However, their efficacy and optimal stimulation targets remain uncertain. We conducted a preregistered meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in healthy adults (58 trials, 295 outcomes) examining the effects of tES on attentional functions (PROSPERO: CRD42023487035), complemented by a performance-electric field correlation (PEC) analysis to identify brain regions most strongly linked to tES-induced behavioral improvements. In general, tES produced a small but significant improvement in attentional functions compared to control conditions (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.12-0.36, I2 = 61%). Small but consistent benefits were observed in trials assessing attentional functions after stimulation (40 trials, SMD = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.12-0.33, I2 = 39%) and in trials applying anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting prefrontal regions (vs sham; 31 trials, SMD = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.12-0.39, I2 = 46%) with no evidence of publication bias or serious imprecision. The PEC analysis further revealed that tDCS-induced electric fields in the ventral subregion of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (left vDLPFC) were most strongly associated with improvements in attentional functions following tDCS. Taken together, these findings suggest that tES may enhance attentional functions and the left vDLPFC may be a potential target for future tES studies aiming to improve attention. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Attention; Meta-analysis; Non-invasive brain stimulation; Performance-electric field correlation; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Transcranial electric stimulation |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260705 Date Completed: 20260919 Latest Revision: 20260921 |
| Update Code: | 20260921 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2026.109342 |
| PMID: | 42402271 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-6246 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2026.109342 |