Table 5 Characteristics of the NIBS protocol

tDCS

Cathodal

[25]

The cathode was placed over the hand area of the unaffected motor cortex, and the anode over the contralateral orbit of the eye

20 min

2 mA

[32]

The cathode was placed over the patients’ scalp which corresponded to the primary motor cortex (M1) of the unaffected hemisphere, and the anode over the contralateral orbit of the eye

20 min

2 mA

Anodal

[30]

The anode placed over motor cortex (M1) in the non-dominant hemisphere in healthy volunteers and the affected hemisphere in stroke patients, and cathode over contralateral supraorbital area

20 min

1 mA

[31]

The anode was placed over the primary motor cortex (M1), i.e., C3 or C4 (EEG 10–20 system) of the affected hemisphere, and cathode above the contralateral eye orbit

13 min

2 mA

[33]

The anode is placed over the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1), i.e., C3 (EEG 10–20 system), and the cathode is placed in the contralesional supraorbital cortex i.e., Fp2 (EEG 10–20 system)

20 min

2 mA

[26, 37, 38]

The anodal electrode was positioned over the primary motor cortex contralateral to the lower limb with greater motor impairment, and the cathode was positioned in the supraorbital region on the contralateral side

20 min

1 mA

[39, 40]

The anode was placed over the motor cortex (M1) contralateral to the more painful hemibody either over C3 or C4 (EEG 10–20 system), and cathode over contralateral supraorbital area

20 min

2 mA

[41]

The anode was positioned over C1 (EEG 10–20 system) left hemisphere and the cathode was positioned in the supraorbital region contralateral to the anode

20 min

2 mA

[36]

Anode and cathode were placed over AF3 and PO8 (EEG 10–20 system) respectively. The stimulation aimed the ventromedial prefrontal cortex

25 min

2 mA

TMS

rTMS

[28]

TMS was applied using a 70-mm figure-of-eight air film coil. After defining the motor hotspot and rMT of the contralesional hemisphere, rTMS was applied at a rate of 1 Hz

10 min

90% of rMT

[29]

TMS was applied using a 70-mm figure-of-eight air film coil. rTMS was applied to the contralesional hemisphere over the primary motor cortex at a rate of 1 Hz

30 min

90% of rMT

iTBS

[34, 35]

TMS was applied using a 75-mm figure-of-eight air film coil, over the left prefrontal cortex, F3 (EEG 10–20 system)

600 pulses in intermittent biphasic bursts at a frequency of 15 pulses per second via 2 s trains, every 10 s

3 min

80% of rMT