Neuromodulatory Non-invasive Brain Stimulation: Methods and Clinical Application

Pathological alterations of plasticity are increasingly discussed as pathophysiological foundation of diverse neurologic and psychiatric diseases. The tools of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) offer the possibility to examine altered plasticity in patients and furthermore modulate pathological plasticity therapeutically. Multiple methods to affect human neuroplasticity were developed and established during the last years. These include repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), paired associative stimulation (PAS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and oscillatory electric stimulation procedures like transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and random noise stimulation. The only FDA-approved and clinically implemented method of NIBS is the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation that is used for the treatment of major depressions. All other tools of NIBS have so far been mainly applied experimentally. In the following article we provide an overview of the different methods of NIBS, the present clinical and therapeutic data and future perspectives.