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Practical Guide to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation pp 225–231Cite as

Stimulation Parameters and Their Reporting

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Abstract

The stimulation parameters for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), called stimulation dose, are straightforward and are summarized in this chapter. tDCS dose is set by the stimulation current, duration, and electrode montage. And yet it is necessary to emphasize that the apparent simplicity of describing tDCS dose (1) cannot supplement using poorly designed equipment, head-gear, or electrodes and (2) is no justification for insufficient training of operators including electrode preparation. Proper equipment and rigorous training is critical for reproducibility of dose and tolerability, and so a trial that reports dose but fails to consider how to implement that dose through equipment and protocols may not be reproducible (as further discussed in Chaps. 7 and 10), including critical considerations for home use (Chap. 13). Despite the apparent simplicity of tDCS dose there is tremendous potential for flexibility and customization of tDCS: any current can be combined with any duration, with many permutations of electrode montage. There is tremendous sophistication in the design of tDCS dose including leveraging computational models of current flow (Chap. 4) and neurons (Chap. 2) or imaging (Chap. 11). The issues surrounding the selection of stimulation parameters and ensuring they are rigorously applied are thus addressed throughout this book, and this chapter only emphasizes what those parameters are, and additional factors related to tolerability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory (CAM), McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Adam J. Woods

  2. MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care, New York, NY, USA

    Helena Knotkova

  3. Department of Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Helena Knotkova

  4. MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care, New York, NY, USA

    Alexa Riggs

  5. Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Dennis Q. Truong

  6. Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Marom Bikson

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  1. Adam J. Woods
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  2. Helena Knotkova
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  3. Alexa Riggs
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  4. Dennis Q. Truong
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  5. Marom Bikson
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Correspondence to Marom Bikson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care, New York, NY, USA

    Helena Knotkova

  2. Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany

    Michael A. Nitsche

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Marom Bikson

  4. Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory (CAM), McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Adam J. Woods

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Woods, A.J., Knotkova, H., Riggs, A., Truong, D.Q., Bikson, M. (2019). Stimulation Parameters and Their Reporting. In: Knotkova, H., Nitsche, M., Bikson, M., Woods, A. (eds) Practical Guide to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95948-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95948-1_8

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95948-1

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