Two neuromodulatory techniques based on applying direct current (DC) non‐invasively through the skin, transcranial cerebellar direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcutaneous spinal DCS, can induce prolonged functional changes consistent with a direct influence on the human cerebellum and spinal cord. In this article we review the major experimental works on cerebellar tDCS and on spinal tDCS, and their preliminary clinical applications. Cerebellar tDCS modulates cerebellar motor cortical inhibition, gait adaptation, motor behaviour, and cognition (learning, language, memory, attention). Spinal tDCS influences the ascending and descending spinal pathways, and spinal reflex excitability. In the anaesthetised mouse, DC stimulation applied under the skin along the entire spinal cord may affect GABAergic and glutamatergic systems. Preliminary clinical studies in patients with cerebellar disorders, and in animals and patients with spinal cord injuries, have reported beneficial effects. Overall the available data show that cerebellar tDCS and spinal tDCS are two novel approaches for inducing prolonged functional changes and neuroplasticity in the human cerebellum and spinal cord, and both are new tools for experimental and clinical neuroscientists.

This paper investigates the spatial distribution of the electric field and of the current density in the brain tissues induced by transcranial direct current stimulation of the primary motor cortex. A numerical method was applied on a realistic human head model to calculate these field distributions in different brain structures, such as the cortex, the white matter, the cerebellum, the hippocampus, the medulla oblongata, the pons, the midbrain, and the thalamus. The influence of varying the anode area, the cathode area, and the injected current was also investigated. An electrode area as the one typically used in clinical practice (i.e., both electrodes equal to 35 cm²) resulted into complex and diffuse amplitude distributions over all the examined brain structures, with the region of maximum induced field being below or close to the anode. Variations in either the anode or cathode area corresponded to changes in the field amplitude distribution in all the brain tissues, with the former variation producing more diffuse effects. Variations in the injected current resulted, as could be expected, in linearly correlated changes in the field amplitudes.

Exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in indoor environments depends on both outdoor sources such as radio, television and mobile phone antennas and indoor sources, such as mobile phones and wireless communications applications. Establishing the levels of exposure could be challenging due to differences in the approaches used in different studies. The goal of this study is to present an overview of the last ten years research efforts about RF EMF exposure in indoor environments, considering different RF-EMF sources found to cause exposure in indoor environments, different indoor environments and different approaches used to assess the exposure. The highest maximum mean levels of the exposure considering the whole RF-EMF frequency band was found in offices (1.14 V/m) and in public transports (0.97 V/m), while the lowest levels of exposure were observed in homes and apartments, with mean values in the range 0.13–0.43 V/m. The contribution of different RF-EMF sources to the total level of exposure was found to show slightly different patterns among the indoor environments, but this finding has to be considered as a time-dependent picture of the continuous evolving exposure to RF-EMF.