Because transcranial brain stimulation techniques provide a means to modulate cortical activity in a noninvasive, safe and targeted fashion, they have naturally come under investigation as potentially useful therapeutic tools. While the application of these approaches in the therapeutic realm is still in preliminary stages, early results are promising. In this section, we use the examples of motor recovery after stroke, depression and schizophrenia to illustrate how transcranial brain stimulation techniques can be used to explore and modify cortical networks in various disease states.
