{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T16:33:58Z","timestamp":1790613238205,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,21]],"date-time":"2023-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1700524800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Office of Graduate Studies of Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul","award":["UFMS\/PROPP"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UFMS\/PROPP"]}]},{"name":"Office of Graduate Studies of Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul","award":["FC001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FC001"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002322","name":"Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UFMS\/PROPP"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UFMS\/PROPP"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002322","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002322","name":"Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["FC001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FC001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002322","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has gained popularity as a method of modulating cortical excitability in people with physical and mental disabilities. However, there is a lack of consensus on its effectiveness in older individuals. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a 2-month tDCS program for improving physical and mental performance in community-dwelling older individuals. In this single-blinded, controlled clinical trial, forty-two participants were allocated to one of three groups: (1) the tDCS group, which received, twice a week, 20 min sessions of 2 mA electric current through electrodes placed on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; (2) the tDCS-placebo group, which underwent the same electrode placement as the tDCS group but without actual electric stimulation; and (3) the cognitive-control group, which completed crossword puzzles. Main outcome measures were cognition, mobility, and anxiety. Multivariate analyses of variance were employed. Significance was set at 5% (p &lt; 0.05). Regarding the results, no significant benefits were observed in the tDCS group compared with the tDCS-placebo or cognitive-control groups for cognition (p = 0.557), mobility (p = 0.871), or anxiety (p = 0.356). Cognition exhibited positive oscillations during the assessments (main effect of time: p = 0.001). However, given that all groups showed similar variations in cognitive scores (main effect of group: p = 0.101; group \u00d7 time effect: p = 0.557), it is more likely that the improvement reflects the learning response of the participants to the cognitive tests rather than the effect of tDCS. In conclusion, a 2-month tDCS program with two sessions per week appears to be ineffective in improving physical and mental performance in community-dwelling older individuals. Further studies are necessary to establish whether or not tDCS is effective in healthy older individuals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci13121614","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,21]],"date-time":"2023-11-21T10:24:13Z","timestamp":1700562253000},"page":"1614","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Cognition, Anxiety, and Mobility in Community-Dwelling Older Individuals: A Controlled Clinical Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3804-1820","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nathalia Oliveira","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campo Grande 79060-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5512-7338","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna Alice","family":"Vidal Bravalhieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campo Grande 79060-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2105-3473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tatiane Pereira de","family":"Moraes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campo Grande 79060-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2813-644X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jorge Aparecido","family":"Barros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy, Dom Bosco Catholic University (UCDB), Campo Grande 79117-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9873-3509","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juliana Hotta","family":"Ansai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gerontology, Federal University of S\u00e3o Carlos (UFSCAR), S\u00e3o Carlos 13565-905, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7879-239X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gustavo","family":"Christofoletti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campo Grande 79060-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"737","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cger.2013.07.002","article-title":"Normal cognitive aging","volume":"29","author":"Harada","year":"2013","journal-title":"Clin. 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