Safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa. The open-label STAR study

We report results from an open-label study of the safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in patients suffering from Anorexia Nervosa (AN). AN is a severe psychiatric illness associated with a high mortality rate and a severely impaired quality of life. However, only a limited number of treatments are available, and specifically, no medication is approved for AN management [ 1 ]. Usually, psychotherapeutic interventions and the management of physical complications are recommended. Lately, rTMS has emerged as a safe and somewhat effective treatment option for the treatment of AN. However, results were not conclusive [ 2 , 3 ]. A recent development of tDCS seems to be promising in depression and schizophrenia [ 4 , 5 ] and deserves to be further investigated in AN.