Low intensity transcranial electric stimulation: Safety, ethical, legal regulatory and application guidelines

Summary & key facts

A large group of experts reviewed studies of low-intensity transcranial electrical stimulation, which means sending small electric currents through the head to affect brain activity. They found that, in more than 18,000 recorded sessions in healthy people and patients, this kind of stimulation at common settings appears safe: no life-threatening events were reported. Most problems were mild, like headaches, tiredness, or tingling on the skin, and serious problems were rare. The paper explains which settings are considered low intensity, what risks have shown up, and recommends using checklists and careful reporting when researchers try new or stronger settings.

Key facts:

• Researchers reviewed over 18,000 sessions of low-intensity electrical brain stimulation across healthy people and patients and found no reports of serious life-threatening events.
• ‘Low-intensity’ in these guidelines means typical settings of less than 4 milliamps (mA) and up to 60 minutes a day; these settings are considered safe based on current evidence.
• Minor side effects are common and include headache, tiredness, and a prickling or burning feeling on the scalp during stimulation.
• Skin burns have happened but are rare and usually linked to poor contact between the electrode and the skin.
• There are 11 documented cases where mania or hypomania occurred after stimulation in people with depression, but because the number is small and trials are limited, it is hard to prove the stimulation caused those events.
• People who got fake stimulation (placebo) also often reported side effects, and studies that asked about side effects found more of them than studies that did not ask directly.
• Simulations and animal research suggest brain injury would require current levels more than ten times higher than the levels used in human low-intensity stimulation.
• Using alternating current (the kind that goes back and forth) produced fewer reported side effects than using direct current (steady one-direction flow) in published studies.
• The experts recommend using structured checklists and interviews to record side effects, especially when testing new devices or stronger settings.

Topics

Muscle activation and electromyography studies Neuroscience and Neural Engineering Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies

Categories

Life Sciences Neurology Neuroscience

Tags

Business Intensity (physics) Medicine Neuroscience Physical medicine and rehabilitation Physics Psychology Quantum mechanics Stimulation Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Sadness or low mood