BACKGROUND Inhibitory control refers to a central cognitive capacity involved in the interruption and correction of actions. Dysfunctions in these cognitive control processes have been identified as major maintaining mechanisms in a range of mental disorders such as ADHD, binge eating disorder, obesity, and addiction. Improving inhibitory control by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) could ameliorate symptoms in a broad range of mental disorders. OBJECTIVE The primary aim of this pre-registered meta-analysis was to investigate whether inhibitory control can be improved by tDCS in healthy and clinical samples. Additionally, several moderator variables were investigated. METHODS A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed/MEDLINE database, Web of Science, and Scopus. To achieve a homogenous sample, only studies that assessed inhibitory control in the go-/no-go (GNG) or stop-signal task (SST) were included, yielding a total of 75 effect sizes from 45 studies. RESULTS Results of the meta-analysis indicate a small but significant overall effect of tDCS on inhibitory control (g = 0.21) which was moderated by target and return electrode placement as well as by the task. The small effect size was further reduced after correction for publication bias. CONCLUSION Based on the studies included, our meta-analytic approach substantiates previously observed differences between brain regions, i.e., involvement of the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) vs. the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) in inhibitory control. Results indicate a small moderating effect of tDCS on inhibitory control in single-session studies and highlight the relevance of technical and behavioral parameters.

中文翻译：

---

经颅直流电刺激对抑制控制影响的荟萃分析

背景技术抑制控制是指参与中断和纠正动作的中枢认知能力。这些认知控制过程中的功能障碍已被确定为一系列精神障碍（如 ADHD、暴食症、肥胖和成瘾）的主要维持机制。通过经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 改善抑制控制可以改善多种精神障碍的症状。目的 这项预先注册的荟萃分析的主要目的是调查 tDCS 是否可以改善健康和临床样本中的抑制控制。此外，还研究了几个调节变量。方法 在 PubMed/MEDLINE 数据库、Web of Science 和 Scopus 上进行全面的文献检索。为了获得均匀的样品，仅包括评估 go-/no-go (GNG) 或停止信号任务 (SST) 中的抑制控制的研究，从 45 项研究中产生了总共 75 种效应量。结果 荟萃分析的结果表明 tDCS 对抑制控制 (g = 0.21) 的总体影响虽小但显着，受目标和返回电极放置以及任务的影响。在校正发表偏倚后，小效应量进一步减小。结论 基于所包含的研究，我们的荟萃分析方法证实了先前观察到的大脑区域之间的差异，即右侧额下回 (rIFG) 与右侧背外侧前额叶皮层 (rDLPFC) 的抑制控制。