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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders pp 293–298Cite as

Epilepsy

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Abstract

Treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy has seen major advancements in the recent years with the availability of several neurostimulation techniques, among which noninvasive tDCS has emerged as a viable option. Cathodal tDCS has the capacity to induce reductions in cortical excitability in humans resembling classical forms of long-term depression. The tDCS antiepileptic potential has been tested in three controlled clinical trials thus far, outcomes of which are mixed with respect to seizure suppression. In general, more profound suppression of epileptiform EEG activity, rather than suppression of clinical seizures has been observed after cathodal tDCS. As a result, preclinical in vivo and in vitro tDCS studies aimed at obtaining mechanic insights into tDCS effects are on the rise as means to improve clinical tDCS protocols for focal and patient-specific stimulation, and also as studies that will identify tDCS–pharmacotherapy combination therapies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology and F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Sameer C. Dhamne M.S., Yan Sun Ph.D. & Alexander Rotenberg Ph.D.

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Yan Sun Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Sameer C. Dhamne M.S.
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  2. Yan Sun Ph.D.
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  3. Alexander Rotenberg Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Rotenberg Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Neuromodulation Department and Institute of Psychiatry Laboratory of Neurosciences (LIM-27), University Hospital and Service of Interdisciplinary Neuromodulation University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    André Brunoni

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

    Michael Nitsche

  3. School of Psychiatry Black Dog Institute & St George Hospital, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Colleen Loo

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Dhamne, S.C., Sun, Y., Rotenberg, A. (2016). Epilepsy. In: Brunoni, A., Nitsche, M., Loo, C. (eds) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33967-2_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33967-2_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33965-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33967-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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