Transcranial electrotherapy in the treatment of mental diseases

Non-pharmacological intervention in mental diseases is of interest to researchers as an opportunity to reduce the number of side effects from psychopharmacotherapy. One of the central issues is the possibility of physically influencing brain wave activity in order to affect its functioning. For a long time, this issue remained unstudied. The situation has changed dramatically with the recent development of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques that open up new perspectives for neuroscience, allowing researchers to confirm their correlation theories for the first time by directly manipulating brain function through external influences. One of the methods of such exposure is transcranial electrical stimulation (tACS), a method of electrical stimulation of the brain in which currents act on the intact human scalp to directly interfere with the electrical activity of the brain. It is assumed that neural involvement and plasticity mediate the behavioral effects of tACS in patients with mental pathology. The purpose of this review was to study the current state of the problem, describe the latest developments in the field of tACS, and provide observations of the online and offline effects of tACS use in the treatment of mental disorders. To achieve this goal, we analyzed 180 publications In Russian and foreign libraries, descriptions of inventions related to electrotherapy, and reviewed the results of randomized controlled trials on this topic. Most of the described methods have a strong evidence base and might be included in guidelines for treatment of mental disorders in the near future.