Home-Based tDCS: Extending Depression Care Beyond the Clinic

Professor Berthold Langguth is a neurologist and psychiatrist and Chief Physician for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital Regensburg, where he has practised for more than 25 years. His clinical work spans the full range of psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on general psychiatry, and his research group is active in exploring novel applications of neuromodulation.

tDCS as part of a broader neuromodulation strategy

At the Regensburg clinic, brain stimulation techniques, including tDCS, are used primarily to treat depression. Alongside routine clinical use, Professor Langguth’s team runs research studies investigating new indications for the technique.

“What’s truly special about tDCS is that it can be administered at home. That’s one of its biggest advantages, clinically.”

Two clinical applications enabled by home use

Home administration opens up two distinct clinical pathways, according to Professor Langguth. For patients with mild to moderate depression, tDCS offers a low-threshold entry point to treatment — often before more resource-intensive options such as day-clinic or inpatient care become necessary. For patients with more severe illness, home-based tDCS supports long-term maintenance therapy, including continuation care after successful treatment with TMS or ECT.

Early evidence on adherence

Professor Langguth’s group has also studied home-based tDCS in adults with ADHD, delivered alongside app-based cognitive behavioural therapy, as part of ongoing research into new indications. In that study, more than 90% of sessions were completed by patients exactly as prescribed — an encouraging signal for treatment adherence in home settings generally. Depression remains the primary focus of tDCS use in his clinic.

“Home use is a genuine clinical advantage,” Professor Langguth says. “It creates possibilities both for early, low-threshold intervention and for long-term maintenance care in depression.”