title: Methodological dimensions of transcranial brain stimulation with the electrical current in human.
abstract: Transcranial current stimulation (TCS) is a neuromodulation method in which the patient is exposed to a mild electric current (direct or alternating) at 1-2 mA, resulting in an increase or a decrease in the brain excitability. This modification in neural activities can be used as a method for functional human brain mapping with causal inferences. This method might also facilitate the treatments of many neuropsychiatric disorders based on its inexpensive, simple, safe, noninvasive, painless, semi-focal excitatory and inhibitory effects. Given this, a comparison amongst different brain stimulation modalities has been made to determine the potential advantages of the TCS method. In addition, considerable methodological details on using TCS in basic and clinical neuroscience studies in human subjects have been introduced. Technical characteristics of TCS devices and their related accessories with regard to safety concerns have also been well articulated. Finally, some TCS application opportunities have been emphasized, including its potential use in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Translational Neuroscience Program, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Tehran, Iran ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rostami
authors.affiliation: Translational Neuroscience Program, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Tehran, Iran ; Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University for Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Department of Computer Science, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehrshad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golesorkhi
authors.affiliation: Translational Neuroscience Program, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Tehran, Iran ; Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University for Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, Tehran University for Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ekhtiari
keywords: Non Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS); Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS); Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS); Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES)