Journal of Neurology Research, ISSN 1923-2845 print, 1923-2853 online, Open Access
Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, J Neurol Res and Elmer Press Inc
Journal website https://jnr.elmerpub.com

Review

Volume 15, Number 2, March 2025, pages 65-70

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Motor Therapy for Patients With Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram for the systematic review and meta-analysis. Diagram illustrates the identification, screening, and inclusion process of studies for this systematic review.
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Risk of Bias 2 Tool assessment. Risk of bias assessment for included studies using the Risk of Bias 2 Tool. The figure presents “traffic light” plots with domain-level judgments for each study and bar plots summarize the distribution of risk-of-bias judgments across domains. Green indicates low risk of bias, reflecting high methodological quality.

Tables

Table 1. Search Strategy
 
DatabaseSearch strategy
Search strategies used for retrieving studies on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for Parkinson’s disease across PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. Each database search included specific terms and filters to identify the randomized controlled trials of interest.
PubMed“Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation”[Mesh] AND “Parkinson Disease”[Mesh] AND random*
Embase“Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation”/syn AND “Parkinson Disease”/syn AND “Randomized Controlled Trial”/syn
Cochrane Library“tDCS” OR “Cathodal Stimulation Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation” OR “Cathodal Stimulation tDCS” OR “Cathodal Stimulation tDCSs” OR “Stimulation tDCS, Cathodal” OR “Stimulation tDCSs, Cathodal” OR “tDCS, Cathodal Stimulation” OR “tDCSs, Cathodal Stimulation” OR “Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation” OR “Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation” OR “Transcranial Electrical Stimulation” OR “Electrical Stimulation, Transcranial” OR “Electrical Stimulations, Transcranial” OR “Stimulation, Transcranial Electrical” OR “Stimulations, Transcranial Electrical” OR “Transcranial Electrical Stimulations” OR “Anodal Stimulation Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation” OR “Anodal Stimulation tDCS” OR “Anodal Stimulation tDCSs” OR “Stimulation tDCS, Anodal” OR “Stimulation tDCSs, Anodal” OR “tDCS, Anodal Stimulation” OR “tDCSs, Anodal Stimulation” OR “Repetitive Transcranial Electrical Stimulation” OR “Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation” AND “Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease” OR “Lewy Body Parkinson’s Disease” OR “Parkinson’s Disease, Idiopathic” OR “Parkinson’s Disease, Lewy Body” OR “Parkinson Disease, Idiopathic” OR “Parkinson’s Disease” OR “Idiopathic Parkinson Disease” OR “Lewy Body Parkinson Disease” OR “Primary Parkinsonism” OR “Parkinsonism, Primary” OR “Paralysis Agitans” OR “Parkinson Disease” AND “Clinical Trials, Randomized” OR “Trials, Randomized Clinical” OR “Controlled Clinical Trials, Randomized” OR “Randomized Controlled Trial”

 

Table 2. Characteristics of the Included Studies
 
StudyStudy designIntervention (N)Control (N)
The table summarizes the study design, interventions applied, and the number of participants for each group in the included studies. DLPFC: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; M1: motor cortex; RCT: randomized controlled trial; tDCS: transcranial direct current stimulation.
Wong et al, 2022 [10]RCTM1 tDCS, DLPFC tDCS, cerebellum tDCS (N = 27, nine participants in each group)Sham tDCS group (N = 9)
Da Silva et al, 2018 [12]RCTtDCS in the supplementary motor area and medial areas of the primary motor cortices (N = 8)Sham tDCS group (N = 9)
Manor et al, 2021 [14]RCTtDCS applied on the left DLPFC and the bilateral leg region of M1 (N = 37)Sham tDCS group (N = 36)
De Icco et al, 2022 [13]RCTBihemispheric M1 tDCS for 20 min during five consecutive days (N = 13)Sham tDCS group (N = 15)
Beretta et al, 2024 [15]RCTtDCS (eight sessions) applied on the primary M1 for 20 min (N = 11)Sham tDCS group (N = 11)