{"title":"A Systematic Review of tACS Effects on Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults Across the Healthy to Dementia Spectrum.","authors":"Jacob D Kraft, Benjamin M Hampstead","doi":"10.1007/s11065-023-09621-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that has experienced rapid growth within the aging population over the past decade due to its potential for modulating cognitive functioning across the \"intact\" to dementia spectrum. For this reason, we performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the efficacy of tACS on cognitive functioning in older adults, including those with cognitive impairment. Our review was completed in June 2023 using Psych INFO, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane databases. Out of 479 screened articles, 21 met inclusion criteria and were organized according to clinical diagnoses. Seven out of nine studies targeted cognitively intact older adults and showed some type of cognitive improvement after stimulation, whereas nine out of twelve studies targeted clinical diagnoses and showed improved cognitive performance to varying degrees. Studies showed considerable heterogeneity in methodology, stimulation parameters, participant characteristics, choice of cognitive task, and analytic strategy, all of which reinforce the need for standardized reporting of tACS methods. Through this heterogeneity, multiple patterns are described, such as disease progression influencing tACS effects and the need for individualized tailoring. For clinical translation, it is imperative that the field (a) better understand the physiological effects of tACS in these populations, especially in respect to biomarkers, (b) document a causal relationship between tACS delivery and neurophysiological/cognitive effects, and (c) systematically establish dosing parameters (e.g., amplitude, stimulation frequency, number and duration of sessions, need for booster/maintenance sessions).</p>","PeriodicalId":49754,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychology Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11045666/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Neuropsychology Review","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-023-09621-3","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that has experienced rapid growth within the aging population over the past decade due to its potential for modulating cognitive functioning across the "intact" to dementia spectrum. For this reason, we performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the efficacy of tACS on cognitive functioning in older adults, including those with cognitive impairment. Our review was completed in June 2023 using Psych INFO, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane databases. Out of 479 screened articles, 21 met inclusion criteria and were organized according to clinical diagnoses. Seven out of nine studies targeted cognitively intact older adults and showed some type of cognitive improvement after stimulation, whereas nine out of twelve studies targeted clinical diagnoses and showed improved cognitive performance to varying degrees. Studies showed considerable heterogeneity in methodology, stimulation parameters, participant characteristics, choice of cognitive task, and analytic strategy, all of which reinforce the need for standardized reporting of tACS methods. Through this heterogeneity, multiple patterns are described, such as disease progression influencing tACS effects and the need for individualized tailoring. For clinical translation, it is imperative that the field (a) better understand the physiological effects of tACS in these populations, especially in respect to biomarkers, (b) document a causal relationship between tACS delivery and neurophysiological/cognitive effects, and (c) systematically establish dosing parameters (e.g., amplitude, stimulation frequency, number and duration of sessions, need for booster/maintenance sessions).
期刊介绍:
Neuropsychology Review is a quarterly, refereed publication devoted to integrative review papers on substantive content areas in neuropsychology, with particular focus on populations with endogenous or acquired conditions affecting brain and function and on translational research providing a mechanistic understanding of clinical problems. Publication of new data is not the purview of the journal. Articles are written by international specialists in the field, discussing such complex issues as distinctive functional features of central nervous system disease and injury; challenges in early diagnosis; the impact of genes and environment on function; risk factors for functional impairment; treatment efficacy of neuropsychological rehabilitation; the role of neuroimaging, neuroelectrophysiology, and other neurometric modalities in explicating function; clinical trial design; neuropsychological function and its substrates characteristic of normal development and aging; and neuropsychological dysfunction and its substrates in neurological, psychiatric, and medical conditions. The journal''s broad perspective is supported by an outstanding, multidisciplinary editorial review board guided by the aim to provide students and professionals, clinicians and researchers with scholarly articles that critically and objectively summarize and synthesize the strengths and weaknesses in the literature and propose novel hypotheses, methods of analysis, and links to other fields.