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Blinding

Blinding

Blinding is a commonly used method of not telling participants which treatment a subject is receiving. Blinding is a critical part of a randomized control trial or RCT. It reduces the bias that affects the results. In an RCT, blinding is used in the form of a placebo. A placebo effect occurs when untreated subjects falsely believe they have received the treatment and report improved symptoms. A placebo or a dummy treatment is administered to subjects to negate the bias caused by such an effect.

Quality Control

Quality Control

Quality control is one of the three cyclical quality assurance activities that help keep a system under statistical control. Typical quality control activities include creating quality control charts, conducting proficiency testing, and documenting and archiving results.
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Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is the overarching term used to describe the activities employed to ensure the proper performance of a system. These activities can be classified into three categories: quality control, quality assessment, and internal corrective measures. Typically, these activities work cyclically: quality control is performed before and during the analysis, while quality assessment occurs during and after the investigation. Internal corrective measures are implemented based on the findings...

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Controls in Experiments

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement

Published on: September 18, 2021

Sham tDCS controls: blinding, reliability, and a specification-grade checklist.

Milos Ljubisavljevic¹, Jonida Basha¹, Fransina C King¹

¹Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

|May 21, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Improving sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is crucial for reliable research. New recommendations focus on real-time blinding assessments and standardized protocols to enhance the integrity of sham tDCS in studies.

Keywords:

blinding electric-field modeling non-invasive brain stimulation reliability reporting standards sham control transcranial direct current stimulation

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Last Updated: May 22, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement

Published on: September 18, 2021

Remotely Supervised Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: An Update on Safety and Tolerability

Remotely Supervised Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: An Update on Safety and Tolerability

Published on: October 7, 2017

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Neuromodulation
Research Methodology

Background:

Sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is vital for establishing causality in research.
Current ramp-only sham protocols may compromise physiological inertness and participant blinding.
Ensuring effective blinding is critical for the validity of tDCS studies.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize evidence on the blinding integrity and test-retest reliability of sham tDCS protocols.
To identify methodological failures in current sham tDCS practices.
To propose evidence-based recommendations for improving sham tDCS design and implementation.

Main Methods:

Systematic literature review of sham tDCS blinding and reliability from 2010 to 2024, with a future update.
Analysis of evidence from conventional (FSF) and novel sham approaches (HD, device-locked).
Identification of recurrent methodological failure factors.

Main Results:

End-of-study blinding assessments often overestimate effectiveness; time-resolved measures reveal perceptual divergence.
Test-retest reliability is generally adequate but can be affected by practice effects and heterogeneity.
Conventional and emerging sham methods show limitations in maintaining blinding.

Conclusions:

Five specification-grade recommendations are proposed to enhance sham tDCS quality.
Recommendations include time-resolved blinding assessment, E-field constraint, protocol standardization, device-locked randomization, and preregistration.
Implementing these practices will improve sham quality, reduce trial variability, and strengthen research synthesis.