ArticleBrain stimulation
Transcranial electrical stimulation motor threshold can estimate individualized tDCS dosage from reverse-calculation electric-field modeling.
Article in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04729270 (Treatment of Neck Pain With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 53 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Treatment of Neck Pain With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A Single Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Challenges and future directions of transcranial direct current stimulation for depression: insights from a systematic review and meta-analysis.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2025Pooled it
- Outcome measures for electric field modeling in tES and TMS: A systematic review and large-scale modeling study.NeuroImage · 2023Pooled it
- The influence of a single transcranial direct current stimulation session on physical fitness in healthy subjects: a systematic review.Experimental brain research · 2023Pooled it
- Identifying regions in prefrontal cortex related to working memory improvement: A novel meta-analytic method using electric field modeling.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2021Pooled it
- An electric field modeling study with meta-analysis to understand the antidepressant effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999)Pooled it
- Individualized transcranial direct current stimulation combined with foot core exercise improves foot and ankle sensorimotor function and static postural control in individuals with chronic ankle instability.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- tDCS-enhanced cognitive training improves attention and alters connectivity in control and somatomotor networks: A triple blind study.NeuroImage · 2024Trial
- Electric field simulation and appropriate electrode positioning for optimized transcranial direct current stimulation of stroke patients: an in Silico model.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Enhancing cognitive control in amnestic mild cognitive impairment via at-home non-invasive neuromodulation in a randomized trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- 2 mA is NOT 2 mA: Electric field variability in high-definition tDCS and its implications for precision neuromodulation in aging.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Sex Does Matter! The Influence of Sex on Outcomes of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).Cells · 2026Review
- Neuromodulation and cognition in late-life depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Article
- Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Depression: From Feasibility to Clinical Implementation.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Review
- Model-driven individualized transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of insomnia disorder: protocol for a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind study.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Treatment of Chronic Neck Pain with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A Single-Blinded Randomized Clinical Trial.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Provide Neuroprotection and Enhance Cerebral Blood Flow in Stroke: A Comprehensive Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Review
- Personalized Dose Selection for Treatment of Patients with Neuropsychiatric Disorders Using tDCS.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Individuals with psychosis receive less electric field strength during transcranial direct current stimulation compared to healthy controls.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnique amongst brain stimulation tools, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) currently lacks an easy or widely implemented method for individualizing dosage.
objectiveWe developed a method of reverse-calculating electric-field (E-field) models based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans that can estimate individualized tDCS dose. We also evaluated an MRI-free method of individualizing tDCS dose by measuring transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) motor threshold (MT) and single pulse, suprathreshold transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) MT and regressing it against E-field modeling. Key assumptions of reverse-calculation E-field modeling, including the size of region of interest (ROI) analysis and the linearity of multiple E-field models were also tested.
methodsIn 29 healthy adults, we acquired TMS MT, TES MT, and anatomical T1-weighted MPRAGE MRI scans with a fiducial marking the motor hotspot. We then computed a "reverse-calculated tDCS dose" of tDCS applied at the scalp needed to cause a 1.00 V/m E-field at the cortex. Finally, we examined whether the predicted E-field values correlated with each participant's measured TMS MT or TES MT.
resultsWe were able to determine a reverse-calculated tDCS dose for each participant using a 5 × 5 x 5 voxel grid region of interest (ROI) approach (average = 6.03 mA, SD = 1.44 mA, range = 3.75-9.74 mA). The Transcranial Electrical Stimulation MT, but not the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation MT, significantly correlated with the ROI-based reverse-calculated tDCS dose determined by E-field modeling (R
conclusionsReverse-calculation E-field modeling, alone or regressed against TES MT, shows promise as a method to individualize tDCS dose. The large range of the reverse-calculated tDCS doses between subjects underscores the likely need to individualize tDCS dose. Future research should further examine the use of TES MT to individually dose tDCS as an MRI-free method of dosing tDCS.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.