Targeting the Human Cerebellum with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Modulate Behavior: a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is increasingly used to study motor- and non-motor-related functions of the cerebellum. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively review available studies to estimate the efficacy of cerebellar tDCS in altering motor- and cognitive-related behavioral performance in healthy volunteers. The present meta-analysis included 32 sham-controlled studies. Results from random effects modeling of the cumulative effect size demonstrated that anodal and cathodal tDCS to the cerebellum were effective in changing performance. No evidence for polarity-dependent effects of cerebellar tDCS was found. Current findings establish the feasibility to target motor and non-motor-related cerebellar functions with tDCS, but arguably due to anatomical differences between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex, the polarity of tDCS is not predictive of the direction of the behavioral changes in healthy volunteers.