[Stimulating the thought].

Neuropsychiatric disorders are generally accompanied by a change in brain activity (hyperactivity or deficiency compared to normal activity). Therefore, intervention in brain activity may provide treatment for different disorders. In this paper we review various methods of brain stimulation: some that are familiar and have been in use for several years such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); and others that are new and still being studied but have obtained promising preliminary results such as vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), deep brain stimulation (DBS], magnetic seizure therapy, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS] and near-infrared therapy. For each method we describe the procedure, proposed mechanisms, side effects and current status in research and in the practical field.