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Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): A beginner’s guide for design and implementation
journal contribution
posted on 2018-01-24, 11:03 authored by Hayley Thair, Amy L. Holloway, Roger NewportRoger Newport, Alastair D. SmithTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a popular brain stimulation method that is used to modulate cortical excitability, producing facilitatory or inhibitory effects upon a variety of behaviors. There is, however, a current lack of consensus between studies, with many results suggesting that polarity-specific effects are difficult to obtain. This article explores some of these differences and highlights the experimental parameters that may underlie their occurrence. We provide a general, practical snapshot of tDCS methodology, including what it is used for, how to use it, and considerations for designing an effective and safe experiment. Our aim is to equip researchers who are new to tDCS with the essential knowledge so that they can make informed and well-rounded decisions when designing and running successful experiments. By summarizing the varied approaches, stimulation parameters, and outcomes, this article should help inform future tDCS research in a variety of fields.
Funding
HT and AH were supported by a studentship from the Defence Science Technology Laboratory (DSTL), awarded to RN and AS respectively (DSTLX-1000083178).
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
Frontiers in NeuroscienceCitation
THAIR, H. ... et al, 2017. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): A beginner’s guide for design and implementation. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 11, Article 641.Publisher
Frontiers Media © Thair, Holloway, Newport and SmithVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/Acceptance date
2017-11-22Publication date
2017Notes
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Frontiers Media under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ISSN
1662-4548Publisher version
Language
- en