Objective To investigate the influence of the anisotropic conductivity of white matter (WM) in the brain on the distribution of the electric field during transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Methods The head model was built based on the standard three-concentric sphere model, then the electric field, current density in the model and at the key point of the primary motor cortex area were simulated by ANSYS software based on the finite element method. Results The electric field and current density distribution of the head model were greatly varied with conductivity ratio and spatial distribution configurations. Conclusions The WM anisotropy has the great influence on the electric field distribution in the head model. The research of this paper provides important reference for tDCS in clinical applications.