Outside Access: Advances in tDCS could provide a mainstream clinical tool for noninvasive neuromodulation

A treatment for depression, chronic pain, cravings, and more--this is the emerging field of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In tDCS, transcranial means through the skull, and direct current is a weak stimulation current delivered to the brain using noninvasive electrodes placed on the scalp [Figure 1(a)].