What Do We Know about Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Major Depression?

Derrick Matthew Buchanan; Philippe Robaey; Amedeo D'Angiulli

doi:10.3390/brainsci10080480

What Do We Know about Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Major Depression?

Brain Sci. 2020 Jul 25;10(8):480. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10080480.

Authors

Derrick Matthew Buchanan^{1

2

3}, Philippe Robaey^{1

3

4}, Amedeo D'Angiulli^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
² Neuroscience of Imagination Cognition Emotion Research Lab, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
³ Neuropsychiatry Lab, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.

Abstract

The interest in using non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) for the treatment of major depression (MD), including treatment resistant depression, is growing rapidly. The paper by Bennabi and Haffen (Brain Sci. 2018, 8) was an important step towards the formal acceptance of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a possible form of therapy. Their review demonstrated favourable support for the beneficial effects of tDCS for MD, coupled with necessary practical considerations, such as its relatively low cost, portability/ease of use in clinical settings, non-invasiveness, and good tolerability. Here, we provide a follow-up to their review and sketch a current update. Means for optimizing tDCS efficacy and potential limitations of current studies are discussed.

Keywords: NIBS; major depression; non-invasive brain stimulation; tDCS; transcranial direct current stimulation; transcranial magnetic stimulation; transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Publication types

Editorial