The relationship between transcranial Current Stimulation electrode montages and the effect of the skull orbital openings

Abstract

Due to its low electric conductivity, the skull has a major impact on the electric field distribution in the brain in transcranial current stimulation (tCS). However, the skull has several openings that are filled with higher conductivity soft tissues, and through which a significant fraction of the injected current may pass. We show that current entering the brain via the orbital openings increases the electric field intensity in the cortical regions near the orbit. Furthermore, this depends on the how far electrodes are placed from the orbital openings.