Regulating consumer use of transcranial direct current stimulation devices

Uncertainty about the safety of unsupervised use of technologies to enhance cognition, mood and behaviour warrants regulatory oversight

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation device that uses a small electrical current (∼ 1–2 mA) between two or more electrodes placed on a person’s scalp to manipulate neural activity. The current is not enough to cause brain cells to fire, but can change their readiness to fire, potentially influencing learning and cognition. There is considerable evidence that tDCS can modulate cortical excitability for brief periods (∼ 30 min) after a single 20-minute application.1