Reprint of: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) - Application in neuropsychology

Yong-Il Shin; Águida Foerster; Michael A Nitsche

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.021

Reprint of: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) - Application in neuropsychology

Neuropsychologia. 2015 Jul:74:74-95. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.021. Epub 2015 Jun 19.

Authors

Yong-Il Shin¹, Águida Foerster², Michael A Nitsche³

Affiliations

¹ University Medical Center, Department Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, South Korea.
² University Medical Center, Department Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany.
³ University Medical Center, Department Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany. Electronic address: mnitsch1@gwdg.de.

PMID: 26100562
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.021

Abstract

Non-invasive brain stimulation is a versatile tool to modulate psychological processes via alterations of brain activity, and excitability. It is applied to explore the physiological basis of cognition and behavior, as well as to reduce clinical symptoms in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Neuromodulatory brain stimulation via transcranial direct currents (tDCS) has gained increased attention recently. In this review we will describe physiological mechanisms of action of tDCS, and summarize its application to modulate psychological processes in healthy humans and neuropsychiatric diseases. Furthermore, beyond giving an overview of the state of the art of tDCS, including limitations, we will outline future directions of research in this relatively young scientific field.

Keywords: Cognition; Healthy humans; Neuropsychiatric diseases; Transcranial direct current stimulation.