Theoretical Analysis of the Effect of Temperature on Current Delivery to the Brain During tDCS

The current delivery to brain was investigated by changing the temperature between two electrodes that are attached to the surface of the scalp, within a tolerable physiological range. Results show that by increasing the temperature between two electrodes, a higher portion of current is shunted via the scalp and the proportion of the current that penetrates the scalp and skull into brain is decreased. On the other hand, cooling the area between two electrodes on the scalp increases the current delivery to the cortical region of the brain. Our results show that cooling the scalp during tDCS can be considered as a possible way to effectively control the current delivery to the brain and increase the efficacy of tDCS.