Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jul 13;41(6):1123-1130.
doi: 10.1007/s10545-018-0181-4. Online ahead of print.

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) mechanisms and its effects on cortical excitability and connectivity

Thomas Reed  1 , Roi Cohen Kadosh  2
Affiliations
Review

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) mechanisms and its effects on cortical excitability and connectivity

Thomas Reed et al. J Inherit Metab Dis. .

Abstract

In this review, we describe transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) techniques currently being used in neuroscientific research, including transcranial direct current (tDCS), alternating current (tACS) and random noise (tRNS) stimulation techniques. We explain how these techniques are used and summarise the proposed mechanisms of action for each technique. We continue by describing how each method has been used to alter endogenous neuronal oscillations and connectivity between brain regions, and we conclude by highlighting the varying effects of stimulation and discussing the future direction of these stimulation techniques in research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was not required for this review article.

Conflict of interests

T. Reed declares that he has no conflict of interest. R. Cohen Kadosh serves on the scientific advisory boards for Neuroelectrics and Innosphere.

Informed consent

Informed consent was not required for this review article.

Animal rights

Animal rights were not needed for this review article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Examples of stimulation waveforms for transcranial direct current (tDCS) (anodal and cathodal), transcranial alternating current (tACS) and transcranial random noise (tRNS) stimulation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alagapan S, Schmidt SL, Lefebvre J, Hadar E, Shin HW, Frӧhlich F. Modulation of cortical oscillations by low-frequency direct cortical stimulation is state-dependent. PLoS Biol. 2016;14(3):e1002424. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Antal A, Alekseichuk I, Bikson M, Brockmöller J, Brunoni A, Chen R, … Paulus W (2017) Low intensity transcranial electric stimulation: safety, ethical, legal regulatory and application guidelines. 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.06.001 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ardolino G, Bossi B, Barbieri S, Priori A. Non-synaptic mechanisms underlie the after-effects of cathodal transcutaneous direct current stimulation of the human brain. J Physiol. 2005;568(Pt 2):653–663. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bächinger M, Zerbi V, Moisa M, Polania R, Liu Q, Mantini D, et al. Concurrent tACS-fMRI reveals causal influence of power synchronized neural activity on resting state fMRI connectivity. J Neurosci: Off J Soc Neurosci. 2017;37(18):4766–4777. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bachtiar V, Near J, Johansen-Berg H, Stagg CJ. Modulation of GABA and resting state functional connectivity by transcranial direct current stimulation. eLife. 2015;4:e08789. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources