Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2026, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (24): 6373-6381.doi: 10.12307/2026.230

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Non-invasive brain stimulation for core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder: a network meta-analysis

Fang Enhui, Guan Hui, Ma Lihong   

  1. School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, Shandong Province, China
  • Received:2025-07-04 Revised:2025-10-19 Online:2026-08-28 Published:2026-02-04
  • Contact: Ma Lihong, Professor, Master’s supervisor, School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, Shandong Province, China
  • About author:Fang Enhui, MS candidate, School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, Shandong Province, China
  • Supported by:
    Research Planning Project of Shandong Higher Medical Education Research Center, No. YJKT202112 (to MLH)

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Non-invasive brain stimulation has been shown to improve restricted, repetitive behaviors and social deficits in children with autism; however, the efficacy of different stimulation protocols varies. This study systematically evaluated the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation on core symptoms in children with autism and compared the efficacy of different stimulation protocols.
METHODS: Comprehensive electronic searches were conducted across CNKI, VIP, WanFang, CBM, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from database inception through March 2025 to identify randomized controlled trials evaluating non-invasive brain stimulation protocols targeting core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder. Two independent reviewers performed dual-phase screening, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool version 2.0. Both conventional and network meta-analyses were implemented through Revman 5.4 and Stata 17.0.
RESULTS: A total of 27 studies were finally included for review, involving 10 stimulation protocols of non-invasive brain stimulation and including 1 701 children with autism. (1) The results of conventional Meta-analysis showed that non-invasive brain stimulation was more effective than conventional rehabilitation in lowering the scores of Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Autism Behavior Checklist, Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist, and Repetitive Behavior Scale. (2) The results of network meta-analysis showed that, compared with conventional rehabilitation, high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [mean difference=-6.00, 95% confidence interval (-8.68, -3.33), P < 0.05, surface under the cumulative ranking curve=89.5%] had the best efficacy in lowering Childhood Autism Rating Scale scores, whereas high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of Broca [mean deviation=-15.11, 95% confidence interval (-18.28,-11.95), P < 0.05, surface under the cumulative ranking curve=91.1%] had the best efficacy in lowering Autism Behavior Checklist scores.
CONCLUSION: Current evidence has suggested that high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation has the best efficacy in improving core symptoms in children with autism. Given the dual limitations of methodological heterogeneity and small sample sizes in current studies, future large-scale, rigorously designed randomized controlled trials are required to validate these findings. 

Key words: non-invasive brain stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, transcranial pulse stimulation, autism spectrum disorder, core symptoms, network meta-analysis

CLC Number: