Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Mar 22, 2015; 5(1): 88-102
Published online Mar 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i1.88
Transcranial direct current stimulation in psychiatric disorders
Gabriel Tortella, Roberta Casati, Luana V M Aparicio, Antonio Mantovani, Natasha Senço, Giordano D’Urso, Jerome Brunelin, Fabiana Guarienti, Priscila Mara Lorencini Selingardi, Débora Muszkat, Bernardo de Sampaio Pereira Junior, Leandro Valiengo, Adriano H Moffa, Marcel Simis, Lucas Borrione, André R Brunoni
Gabriel Tortella, Natasha Senço, Fabiana Guarienti, Priscila Mara Lorencini Selingardi, Débora Muszkat, Bernardo de Sampaio Pereira Junior, Leandro Valiengo, André R Brunoni, Service of Interdisciplinary Neuromodulation, Laboratory of Neurosciences (LIM-27), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05043-000, Brazil
Gabriel Tortella, Luana V M Aparicio, Fabiana Guarienti, Bernardo de Sampaio Pereira Junior, Leandro Valiengo, Adriano H Moffa, Lucas Borrione, André R Brunoni, Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Neuromodulation, University Hospital, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil
Roberta Casati, Psychology Department, Advanced School in Neuropsychology, Università degli Studi Milano Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
Antonio Mantovani, Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY 10031, United States
Natasha Senço, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Project (PROTOC), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 01060-970, Brazil
Giordano D’Urso, Unit of Psychiatry Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Jerome Brunelin, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, Centre Hospitalier le Vinatier, 69100 Villeurbanne, France
Débora Muszkat, National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), Department of Psychiatry Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 04101300, Brazil
Marcel Simis, Santa Casa de São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo 01307-002, Brazil
Marcel Simis, Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Clinics Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School, São Paulo 01307-002, Brazil
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Gabriel Tortella, PSC, Service of Interdisciplinary Neuromodulation, Laboratory of Neurosciences (LIM-27), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, R. Dr. Ovidio Pires de Campos, 785, 2nd floor, Instituto de Psiquiatria - HCFMUSP, São Paulo 05043-000, Brazil. tortellag@gmail.com
Telephone: +55-11-26618159 Fax: +55-11-26618159
Received: September 26, 2014
Peer-review started: September 27, 2014
First decision: November 19, 2014
Revised: December 12, 2014
Accepted: December 29, 2014
Article in press: December 31, 2014
Published online: March 22, 2015
Processing time: 177 Days and 16.3 Hours
Abstract

The interest in non-invasive brain stimulation techniques is increasing in recent years. Among these techniques, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been the subject of great interest among researchers because of its easiness to use, low cost, benign profile of side effects and encouraging results of research in the field. This interest has generated several studies and randomized clinical trials, particularly in psychiatry. In this review, we provide a summary of the development of the technique and its mechanism of action as well as a review of the methodological aspects of randomized clinical trials in psychiatry, including studies in affective disorders, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, child psychiatry and substance use disorder. Finally, we provide an overview of tDCS use in cognitive enhancement as well as a discussion regarding its clinical use and regulatory and ethical issues. Although many promising results regarding tDCS efficacy were described, the total number of studies is still low, highlighting the need of further studies aiming to replicate these findings in larger samples as to provide a definite picture regarding tDCS efficacy in psychiatry.

Keywords: Non-invasive brain stimulation; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Psychiatry disorders; Review

Core tip: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been the subject of great interest among researchers because of its easiness to use, low cost, benign profile of side effects and encouraging results of research in the field. In this review, we provide a summary of the development of the technique and its mechanism of action as well as a review of the methodological aspects of randomized clinical trials in psychiatry and we provide an overview of tDCS use in cognitive enhancement as well as a discussion regarding its clinical use and regulatory and ethical issues.