Abstract: Transcranial direct current stimulation is one of the non-invasive brain-stimulation techniques. Based on the introduction of the origin and development, this article gave an overview of the mechanisms emphatically, the current view is that the transcranial direct current stimulation may exert effect on neuromodulation by changing cortical excitability, increasing synaptic plasticity, impacting cortical excitation/ inhibition balance, altering regional cerebral blood flow, modulating the activity within and between different cortical networks. In this review, clinical studies and analysis findings were compared, and then 2 problems should be discussed for ideal effects: choice of stimulating parameters and timing of the stimulation in relation to task performance.

Key words: transcranial direct current stimulation, mechanism, advances, review