• Jeffrey J Borckardt, Marom Bikson, Heather Frohman, Scott T Reeves, Abhishek Datta, Varun Bansal, Alok Madan, Kelly Barth, and Mark S George.
• Brain Stimulation Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. borckard@musc.edu
• J Pain. 2012 Feb 1;13(2):112-20.

UnlabelledSeveral brain stimulation technologies are beginning to evidence promise as pain treatments. However, traditional versions of 1 specific technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), stimulate broad regions of cortex with poor spatial precision. A new tDCS design, called high definition tDCS (HD-tDCS), allows for focal delivery of the charge to discrete regions of the cortex. We sought to preliminarily test the safety and tolerability of the HD-tDCS technique as well as to evaluate whether HD-tDCS over the motor cortex would decrease pain and sensory experience. Twenty-four healthy adult volunteers underwent quantitative sensory testing before and after 20 minutes of real (n = 13) or sham (n = 11) 2 mA HD-tDCS over the motor cortex. No adverse events occurred and no side effects were reported. Real HD-tDCS was associated with significantly decreased heat and cold sensory thresholds, decreased thermal wind-up pain, and a marginal analgesic effect for cold pain thresholds. No significant effects were observed for mechanical pain thresholds or heat pain thresholds. HD-tDCS appears well tolerated, and produced changes in underlying cortex that are associated with changes in pain perception. Future studies are warranted to investigate HD-tDCS in other applications, and to examine further its potential to affect pain perception.PerspectiveThis article presents preliminary tolerability and efficacy data for a new focal brain stimulation technique called high definition transcranial direct current stimulation. This technique may have applications in the management of pain.Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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