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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Electrode Positioning and Montage in Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Published on: May 23, 2011
Small effects of electric field on motor cortical excitability following anodal tDCS
Ilkka Laakso1, Keisuke Tani2, Jose Gomez-Tames3
1Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland.
Abstract:
The dose-response characteristics of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) remain uncertain but may be related to variability in brain electric fields due to individual anatomical factors. Here, we investigated whether the electric fields influence the responses to motor cortical tDCS. In a randomized cross-over design, 21 participants underwent 10 min of anodal tDCS with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 mA or sham. Compared to sham, all active conditions increased the size of motor evoked potentials (MEP) normalized to the pre-tDCS baseline, irrespective of anterior or posterior magnetic test stimuli. The electric field calculated in the motor cortex of each participant had a nonlinear effect on the normalized MEP size, but its effects were small compared to those of other participant-specific factors. The findings support the efficacy of anodal tDCS in enhancing the MEP size but do not demonstrate any benefits of personalized electric field modeling in explaining tDCS response variability.
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