QuestionDo 10 once-daily sessions of intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improve depressive symptoms more than sham iTBS?FindingsIn this randomized, double-blind, clinical trial of 73 adults with major depressive disorder, iTBS was superior to sham, with significantly greater reductions in clinician-rated depressive symptoms after 5 and 10 sessions; however, between-group differences were not sustained at the 4-week follow-up, as the sham group showed continued improvement.MeaningThese findings suggest that 10 once-daily iTBS sessions improve depressive symptoms more than sham in the short term, with no sustained advantage after 4 weeks. ImportanceIntermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) is an established treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), but sham-controlled evidence for once-daily protocols remains limited.ObjectiveTo determine whether 10 sessions of once-daily iTBS is superior to sham iTBS for adults with MDD.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis randomized clinical trial was conducted at an outpatient psychiatric clinic in North Norway between January 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, among 73 patients with MDD, aged 22 to 65 years, with a Montogomery-& Aring;sberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of 20 or more, regardless of treatment refractoriness level. Statistical analyses were completed in October 2025.InterventionParticipants were randomized to 10 weekday sessions of once-daily iTBS (600 pulses at 120% of the resting motor threshold) or sham stimulation delivered with a validated sham coil to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. A 4-week follow-up evaluated sustained effects.Main Outcomes and MeasuresMain outcomes were between-group differences in depression scores on day 10, measured with the clinician-rated MADRS and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Secondary outcomes included MADRS scores on day 5, MADRS and BDI-II scores at follow-up, and response and remission rates on day 10. Repeated depression measures were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models in a modified intention-to-treat sample. Adverse events were assessed daily and compared between groups.ResultsSeventy-three participants (mean [SD] age, 36.1 [10.6] years, 40 female [54.8%]) completed the study: 41 were randomized to active iTBS and 32 to sham. iTBS was superior to sham on day 10 for MADRS scores (mean difference, 3.57 [95% CI, 0.79-6.35]; Hedges g = 0.61; P = .01), but not for BDI-II scores (mean difference, 3.05 [95% CI, -2.72 to 8.82]; P = .30). iTBS was also superior to sham on day 5 for MADRS scores (mean difference, 2.89 [95% CI, 0.13-5.64]; Hedges g = 0.50; P = .04) but not significant at follow-up due to improvement in the sham group. Treatments were well tolerated, with mild and transient adverse events.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this randomized clinical trial of adults with MDD, a fixed 10-session schedule of once-daily iTBS resulted in greater reductions in clinician-rated depressive symptoms than sham during the treatment phase. The group difference was not sustained at the 4-week follow-up. These findings highlight the importance of treatment duration and extended follow-up in interpreting clinical response.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05516095 This randomized clinical trial assesses whether 10 sessions of once-daily intermittent theta-burst stimulation improve depressive symptoms more than sham among adults with major depressive disorder.

Background/Objectives: The psychological state affects perceived pain and can be modulated by emotions and attention. Pain experiences are prevalent in dental treatment and play a key role in the development of dental anxiety and treatment avoidance. This study hypothesizes that video and audio that are either pain-relevant or neutral will impact pain perception, self-reported stress, and physiological stress in a dental setting differently. Methods: Eighty participants were randomized into a no-stimuli control group and four experimental groups, in which they were exposed to pain-relevant or neutral video or audio recordings. Heat pain was administered to the participants’ forearms before and after the video or audio exposure, and participants rated the pain using a computerized visual analogue scale. Skin conductance levels (SCLs) were measured to indicate arousal levels. Results: Pain reports were significantly higher in the control group compared to all other groups (all p-values < 0.05), except for those who viewed the surgical video. Also, both pain reports and SCLs were significantly higher during the pain-relevant video compared to the neutral video (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The interplay between the psychological state, emotion, attention and pain perception in dental care should be explored further, particularly regarding its potential relevance for pain control and supportive clinical environments.

Importance:Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) is an established treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), but sham-controlled evidence for once-daily protocols remains limited. Objective:To determine whether 10 sessions of once-daily iTBS is superior to sham iTBS for adults with MDD. Design, Setting, and Participants:This randomized clinical trial was conducted at an outpatient psychiatric clinic in North Norway between January 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, among 73 patients with MDD, aged 22 to 65 years, with a Montogomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of 20 or more, regardless of treatment refractoriness level. Statistical analyses were completed in October 2025. Intervention:Participants were randomized to 10 weekday sessions of once-daily iTBS (600 pulses at 120% of the resting motor threshold) or sham stimulation delivered with a validated sham coil to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. A 4-week follow-up evaluated sustained effects. Main Outcomes and Measures:Main outcomes were between-group differences in depression scores on day 10, measured with the clinician-rated MADRS and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Secondary outcomes included MADRS scores on day 5, MADRS and BDI-II scores at follow-up, and response and remission rates on day 10. Repeated depression measures were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models in a modified intention-to-treat sample. Adverse events were assessed daily and compared between groups. Results:Seventy-three participants (mean [SD] age, 36.1 [10.6] years, 40 female [54.8%]) completed the study: 41 were randomized to active iTBS and 32 to sham. iTBS was superior to sham on day 10 for MADRS scores (mean difference, 3.57 [95% CI, 0.79-6.35]; Hedges g = 0.61; P = .01), but not for BDI-II scores (mean difference, 3.05 [95% CI, -2.72 to 8.82]; P = .30). iTBS was also superior to sham on day 5 for MADRS scores (mean difference, 2.89 [95% CI, 0.13-5.64]; Hedges g = 0.50; P = .04) but not significant at follow-up due to improvement in the sham group. Treatments were well tolerated, with mild and transient adverse events. Conclusions and Relevance:In this randomized clinical trial of adults with MDD, a fixed 10-session schedule of once-daily iTBS resulted in greater reductions in clinician-rated depressive symptoms than sham during the treatment phase. The group difference was not sustained at the 4-week follow-up. These findings highlight the importance of treatment duration and extended follow-up in interpreting clinical response. Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05516095.

Abstract Background The therapeutic use of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) is a relatively new but promising treatment option for depression. There is a need for more knowledge on the mechanisms involved in its antidepressant effects. Methods This is a single-centre, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with two arms, iTBS and sham iTBS. Adult outpatients with unipolar major depressive disorder of at least moderate severity will undergo cognitive assessment with an N-back task (0-back and 2-back), functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and assessment of depression severity before and after brain stimulation. Neuronavigated iTBS or sham stimulation will be targeted at the LDPFC once a day for 10 consecutive workdays. ITBS will be delivered with the parameters 120% of resting motor threshold, triplet 50 Hz bursts repeated at 5 Hz; 2 s on and 8 s off, 600 pulses per session with a total duration of 3 min 9 s. The severity of depression will be measured with the Montogomery Aasberg Depression Rating Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory – second edition. In the iTBS group relative to sham, we expect significant antidepressant effects and improved N-back performance, associated with increased integrity in white matter tracts functionally connected with the LDLPFC and emotion regulation areas within the rostral anterior cingulate cortices, alongside potential increases in cortical thickness in these regions. On functional imaging, we expect to observe increased brain activity in the LDPFC during the performance of the N-back condition with higher cognitive load (2-back) in the iTBS group relative to sham. Discussion iTBS is a promising, time-efficient, and considered a safe treatment option for depression according to existing evidence. This trial aims to assess the neurocognitive impact of a 2-week, once-daily iTBS compared to sham iTBS, targeting the LDLPFC in depressed adult outpatients. The study investigates the relationships between changes in cerebral measures and cognitive performance on an N-back task in relation to the antidepressant effect following iTBS. This trial delves into the neurocognitive mechanisms of iTBS in depression, potentially offering novel scientific insights into its treatment effects and mechanisms of action. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06534684. Retrospectively registered on August 1st 2024.

Introduction:Studies suggest facial expressions of caregivers may be important in placebo effects; however, this has not been systematically tested. This experiment investigated the effects of caregivers' singular positive nonverbal behaviours (NBs) on pain reports. Methods:Fifty-one males and 53 females (total of 104) participants were randomized to four groups that were displayed positive facial expressions, tone of voice, body movement, or neutral NBs of videotaped experimenters. Subjective reports of pain, stress, arousal, and cardiac activity were obtained in a pre-test, a conditioning phase, and at a post-test. Four minutes of heat pain was induced in each test, and a placebo cream was administered before the conditioning and post-test in all groups. Results:There were no differences between the NB groups in the reduced pain. Males had larger reduction in pain in the post-test, and females had lower arousal than the opposite sex. During the conditioning, females had larger reduction in pain ie, unconditioned pain response (UPR). In females, the UPR predicted the reinforced expectation ie, increase in expectations from conditioning to post-test, and fear of minor pain negatively predicted both the UPR and reinforced expectation. Discussion:Singular NBs of caregiver were weak to enhance placebo effects. Females had lower pain during conditioning, and the UPR amplitude in females was associated with positive expectations. Moreover, for females, fear of minor pain weakened the UPR and expectations of cream. Conclusion:No NB of caregivers is more effective in reducing pain. Caregivers' NBs are less effective when displayed individually. Males and females may be different in underlying mechanisms of placebo effects.

Background: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the risk of neuropsychological sequelae from boxing. Method: We conducted a systematic search in the databases Medline, Embase, PsychInfo and Web of Science. Studies with boxers, control groups, using neuropsychological assessment and brain-imaging/biomarkers were included. Nine articles met these criteria. Results: The results revealed that processing speed was reduced in six of the nine studies among both amateur and professional boxers. Processing speed correlated negatively with volume of thalamus and number of boxing fights (fight exposure). Three studies found reduced fine motoric skills among professional boxers, but not among amateur boxers. Boxers with more than 15 years of experience had significantly reduced verbal memory compared to controls. Eight of the nine studies found that both amateur and professional boxers had reduced cognitive capacity and/or positive findings on biomarkers. Conclusion: Based on the results, it is reasonable to assume that neuropsychological sequelae are related to career length and number of fights. There may be a dose–response relationship between the number of punches to the head and the risk of neuropsychological sequelae. Methodological limitations (such as low statistical power and short-term follow-up) should be taken into consideration. There is a need for more longitudinal studies to further investigate neuropsychological sequelae of boxing. Keywords: boxing, neuropsychological sequelae, head injury

Background:Several studies on patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to enhance neural excitability in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC). Interindividual differences in brain anatomy in AD patients pose a challenge to efficiently target the lDLPFC using scalp-based coordinates, calling for new and more precise tDCS protocols. Objective:The purpose of this study was to explore how AD-related neuropathology affects the tDCS-induced electric field (EF) across different DLPFC montages using computational modeling. Method:Forty-eight realistic head models were created from structural magnetic resonance scans of AD patients and healthy controls collected from a publicly available database. We compared the tDCS-induced EF in different montages applied in the literature, in addition to a high definition (HD)-tDCS montage centered at electrode F3. Results:There was an overall global reduction in EF strength in the patient group, probably due to structural alterations that were also identified in the patient group. A widespread distribution of the EF was found across the frontal lobe for bipolar montages, while HD-tDCS yielded more focal stimulation, mainly restricted to the lDLPFC. Minor differences in the EF distribution were found when comparing the HD-tDCS montages. Conclusion:Neurodegenerative alterations present in patients with AD affect the magnitude, distribution and variability of the EF. HD-tDCS montages provide more focal stimulation of the target area, compared to bipolar montages with to pronounced group differences between AD patients and healthy matched controls. This finding poses substantial limitations to the comparison of cognitive effects of tDCS both between patients and controls and within patients at different stages of disease progression.

Abstract Background Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) when applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to be equally effective and safe to treat depression compared to traditional repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) paradigms. This protocol describes a funded single-centre, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled, clinical trial to investigate the antidepressive effects of iTBS and factors associated with an antidepressive response. Methods In this trial, outpatients (N = 96, aged 22–65 years) meeting the diagnostic criteria for at least moderate depression (Montgomery and Aasberg Depression Rating Scale score ≥ 20) will be enrolled prospectively and receive ten, once-a-day sessions of either active iTBS or sham iTBS to the left DLPFC, localized via a neuronavigation system. Participants may have any degree of treatment resistance. Prior to stimulation, participants will undergo a thorough safety screening and a brief diagnostic assessment, genetic analysis of brain-derived neurotropic factor, 5-HTTLPR and 5-HT1A, and cerebral MRI assessments. A selection of neuropsychological tests and questionnaires will be administered prior to stimulation and after ten stimulations. An additional follow-up will be conducted 4 weeks after the last stimulation. The first participant was enrolled on June 4, 2022. Study completion will be in December 2027. The project is approved by the Regional Ethical Committee of Medicine and Health Sciences, Northern Norway, project number 228765. The trial will be conducted according to Good Clinical Practice and published safety guidelines on rTMS treatment. Discussion The aims of the present trial are to investigate the antidepressive effect of a 10-session iTBS protocol on moderately depressed outpatients and to explore the factors that can explain the reduction in depressive symptoms after iTBS but also a poorer response to the treatment. In separate, but related work packages, the trial will assess how clinical, cognitive, brain imaging and genetic measures at baseline relate to the variability in the antidepressive effects of iTBS. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05516095. Retrospectively registered on August 25, 2022.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate diurnal variations in admissions to acute psychiatry. Method: The registration of 2,763 submissions were conducted from 1 April 2015 to 31 December 2017 at the University Hospital of North Norway by completing a form for every admission. Results: The results revealed that the majority of the admissions took place at evening and night time. There were significantly (p = .001) more admissions at evening and night time. Results revealed that 21.5% (539) of admissions occurred between 00:00 and 08:00, whereas 27.5% (758) of admissions occurred between 08:00 and16:00 and 51% (1,409) of admissions occurred between 16:00 and 00:00. Conclusion: The causes behind this distribution of admissions should be investigated in future studies and should ask the patients about reasons for the late admissions. Keywords: Diurnal variations, admissions, acute psychiatry

Introduction Positive treatment expectations among patients are associated with reduced symptoms and reduced negative emotions, stress and anxiety. Patient expectations may be influenced by practitioners who focus on increasing positive treatment effects and reducing psychological and physiological stress. Objectives This study examined clinicians’ self-reported utilization of expectancy effects as additive effects to active treatments. Methods We applied a questionnaire to investigate clinicians’ utilization of patients´ treatment expectations. The items mapped reasons for increasing patient expectations, ways through which this was done, the frequency and efficiency of increasing expectations, and the understanding of underlying mechanisms of increasing patient expectations. Nurses (N=84) and medical doctors (N=49) employed in general practitioners’ offices, hospitals, nursing homes and home health care services, responded anonymously. Results When asked if they had tried to influence patient’s expectations to achieve an additive effect to active treatment, 71.2% reported that they had done so at least one time over the last year, 18.5% at least once per month, 16.9% at least once per week and 32.3% at a daily basis. Neither profession nor practitioner sex influenced these results. The two most frequently reported reasons for trying to influence expectations were to increase the effect of an active treatment and to calm the patient. Optimism and empathy were the two most frequently reported ways through which expectations were influenced. Conclusions The strategy of utilizing expectation effects as additive effects to active treatment was frequent among the respondents. The main reported reasons were to increase treatment effects and reduce patients’ stress through expressing optimism and empathy. Disclosure No significant relationships.

In the present open-label study, our first aim was to study the tolerability and feasibility of long-term treatment with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and the second aim was to measure whether the treatment led to cognitive improvement. Participants with AD used a tDCS home-treatment kit inducing a low current (2 mA) via two scalp electrodes 30 minutes daily for 4 months. A total of 8 participants were recruited. The treatment technique was manageable for the participants and their spouses, and no troublesome side effects were reported. No significant effects of treatment were found after 4 months.

Background: The optimal stimulation parameters when using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve memory performance in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are lacking. In healthy individuals, inter-individual differences in brain anatomy significantly influence current distribution during tDCS, an effect that might be aggravated by variations in cortical atrophy in AD patients. Objective: To measure the effect of individualized HD-tDCS in AD patients. Methods: Nineteen AD patients were randomly assigned to receive active or sham high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS). Computational modeling of the HD-tDCS-induced electric field in each patient’s brain was analyzed based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The chosen montage provided the highest net anodal electric field in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). An accelerated HD-tDCS design was conducted (2 mA for 3×20 min) on two separate days. Pre- and post-intervention cognitive tests and T1 and T2-weighted MRI and diffusion tensor imaging data at baseline were analyzed. Results: Different montages were optimal for individual patients. The active HD-tDCS group improved significantly in delayed memory and MMSE performance compared to the sham group. Five participants in the active group had higher scores on delayed memory post HD-tDCS, four remained stable and one declined. The active HD-tDCS group had a significant positive correlation between fractional anisotropy in the anterior thalamic radiation and delayed memory score. Conclusion: HD-tDCS significantly improved delayed memory in AD. Our study can be regarded as a proof-of-concept attempt to increase tDCS efficacy. The present findings should be confirmed in larger samples.

Computations of placebo effects are essential in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for separating the specific effects of treatments from unspecific effects associated with the therapeutic intervention. Thus, the identification of placebo responders is important for testing the efficacy of treatments and drugs. The present study uses data from an experimental study on placebo analgesia to suggest a statistical procedure to separate placebo responders from nonresponders and suggests cutoff values for when responses to placebo treatment are large enough to be separated from reported symptom changes in a no-treatment condition. Unsupervised cluster analysis was used to classify responders and nonresponders, and logistic regression implemented in machine learning was used to obtain cutoff values for placebo analgesic responses. The results showed that placebo responders can be statistically separated from nonresponders by cluster analysis and machine learning classification, and this procedure is potentially useful in other fields for the identification of responders to a treatment.

Objective: Musculoskeletal pain and common mental disorders constitute the largest proportion of people who are on sick leave. This study investigated the efficacy of two multidisciplinary occupational rehabilitation programs on self-rated health and work-related outcomes. The interventions were identical in content but differed in length. It was hypothesized that a longer inpatient program would yield greater improvements than a shorter outpatient program. Methods: Patients were sick-listed workers referred to occupational rehabilitation by the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration. A non-randomized 2 Condition (20 days, n = 64 versus 12 days, n = 62) × 4 repeated measures (start, end, 3 months, 12 months) between-subject design was used. Both programs were based on multimodal cognitive behavior therapy with a return-to-work focus. Health-related questionnaires were the Subjective Health Complaints inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and SF-36 Bodily Pain. Work-related questionnaires were the Work Ability Index, the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire, Return To Work Self-Efficacy, and Return To Work expectations. Intervention effects were estimated using linear mixed models and Cohen’s d. Results: The results revealed that both groups improved on the selected outcomes. Within-group contrasts and effect sizes showed that the inpatient group showed larger effect sizes at the end of rehabilitation and 12 months post-intervention for work-related outcomes than the outpatient group. Conclusion: Both programs were efficacious in improving health- and work-related outcomes during and after rehabilitation, but the inpatient group generally displayed stronger and more rapid improvements and was more stable at one-year postintervention.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) could improve verbal memory functions in healthy old and younger participants. We hypothesized that active tDCS led to significantly improved memory function, compared to placebo tDCS. Forty healthy participants (20 old and 20 younger participants) were included in the study. We applied a novel stimulation protocol, where six sessions of anodal tDCS were administrated during two consecutive days. Each tDCS session lasted 30 min. The current intensity was 2mA and the stimulation area was the left temporal lobe at T3 in the 10-20 EEG system. Immediate recall, delayed recall and recognition memory were assessed with California Verbal Learning Test II (CVLT-II) and executive functions were assessed with the Trail Making Test (TMT) before the first tDCS session and after the last tDCS session. Half of the participants received placebo tDCS, whereas the other half received active tDCS. We did not reveal any significant differences between active and placebo tDCS in memory functions. However, there was a significant difference between active and placebo tDCS in executive function measured by the Trail Making Test (TMT). This experimental study failed to reveal significant differences between active and placebo accelerated tDCS for verbal memory functions. However, accelerated tDCS was found to be well-tolerated in this study.

BACKGROUND:Previous studies shows that elite and high-level athletes possess consistently higher pain tolerance to ischemic and cold pain stimulation compared to recreationally active. However, the data previously obtained within this field is sparse and with low consistency.PURPOSE:The aim of the present study was to examine the difference in pain perception between elite and high-level endurance athletes (cross country skiers and runners), elite soccer players and non-athletes, as well to explore the impact of psychological factors on pain processing.METHODS:Seventy one healthy volunteers (33 females and 38 males) participated in the study. Soccer players (n = 17), cross country skiers (n = 12), and long-distance runners (n = 3) formed the athlete group, with 39 non-athletes as controls. Big-five personality traits, fear of pain and Grit (perseverance and passion for long-term goals) were measured prior to induction of experimental pain. Pain threshold and intensity was induced by a PC-controlled heat thermode and measured by a computerized visual analog scale. Pain tolerance was measured by the cold pressor test (CPT).RESULTS:Elite and high-level athletes had increased pain tolerance, higher heat pain thresholds, and reported lower pain intensity to thermal stimulation. Endurance athletes (cross country skiers and long-distance runners) had better tolerance for cold pain compared to both soccer-players and non-athletes. Furthermore, endurance athletes reported lower pain intensity compared to non-athletes, whereas both endurance athletes and soccer players had higher heat pain thresholds compared to non-athletes. Fear of Pain was the only psychological trait that had an impact on all pain measures.CONCLUSION:The present findings suggest that sports with long durations of physically intense activity, leveling aerobic capacity, are associated with increased ability to tolerate pain and that the amount of training hours has an impact on this tolerance. However, the small sample size implies that the results from this study should be interpreted with caution.

Individuals with internalizing problems differ in levels of attentional control (AC), and this heterogeneity could be associated with differences in autonomic arousal. The present study investigated whether AC moderated the effect of internalizing problems on self-reported experience and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses after the induction of negative affect. Children aged 9-13 years were recruited into a patient group (29) and a healthy control group (25). AC was measured by the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire. Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and pre-ejection period (PEP) were recorded during baseline, a sad film clip and recovery, and analyzed using a marginal linear model. Children reported their experienced emotion, valence, and arousal in response to the film. A significant interaction effect showed increased HRV and longer PEP from baseline to recovery for patients with higher AC. Patients with lower AC showed increased HRV followed by a return to baseline values after the film clip and no significant changes in PEP. Healthy controls showed no significant changes in HRV or PEP independent of level of AC. There were no differences between groups in self-reported experience. The results indicate that AC moderated the effect of internalizing problems on ANS regulation. Increased HRV and longer PEP from baseline to recovery were uniquely associated with higher AC and internalizing problems. This physiological response might indicate a cognitive avoidance strategy. AC could be an important factor explaining heterogeneity in ANS activity among individuals with internalizing problems. Clinical implications of the present findings are discussed.

OBJECTIVE Reduction in cerebral volume is often found in underweight patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), but few studies have investigated other morphological measures. Cortical thickness (CTh) and surface area (CSA), often used to produce the measure of cortical volume, are developmentally distinct measures that may be differentially affected in AN, particularly in the developing brain. In the present study, we investigated CTh and CSA both separately and jointly to gain further insight into structural alterations in adolescent AN patients. METHOD Thirty female AN inpatients 12-18 years of age, and 27 age-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. Group differences in CTh and CSA were investigated separately and jointly with a permutation-based nonparametric combination method (NPC) which may be more sensitive in detecting group differences compared to traditional volumetric methods. RESULTS Results showed significant reduction in in both CTh and CSA in several cortical regions in AN compared to HC and the reduction was related to BMI. Different results for the two morphological measures were found in a small number of cortical regions. The joint NPC analyses showed significant group differences across most of the cortical mantle. DISCUSSION Results from this study give novel insight to areal reduction in adolescent AN patients and indicate that both CTh and CSA reduction is related to BMI. The study is the first to use the NPC method to reveal large structural alterations covering most of the brain in adolescent AN.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been proposed to be able to modulate different cognitive functions. However, recent meta‐analyses conclude that its efficacy is still in question. Recently, an increase in subjects’ propensity to mind‐wander has been reported as a consequence of anodal stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Axelrod et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112, 2015). In addition, an independent group found a decrease in mind wandering after cathodal stimulation of the same region. These findings seem to indicate that high‐level cognitive processes such as mind wandering can reliably be influenced by non‐invasive brain stimulation. However, these previous studies used low sample sizes and are as such subject to concerns regarding the replicability of their findings. In this registered report, we implement a high‐powered replication of Axelrod et al. (2015) finding that mind‐wandering propensity can be increased by anodal tDCS. We used Bayesian statistics and a preregistered sequential‐sampling design resulting in a total sample size of N = 192 participants collected across three different laboratories. Our findings show support against a stimulation effect on self‐reported mind‐wandering scores. The effect was small, in the opposite direction as predicted and not reliably different from zero. Using a Bayes Factor specifically designed to test for replication success, we found strong evidence against a successful replication of the original study. Finally, even when combining data from both the original and replication studies, we could not find evidence for an effect of anodal stimulation. Our results underline the importance of designing studies with sufficient power to detect evidence for or against behavioural effects of non‐invasive brain stimulation techniques, preferentially using robust Bayesian statistics in preregistered reports.