Gambling Disorder (GD) is a condition constituting a public health concern, with a burden of harm which is much greater than that of drug addiction. Patients with GD are generally reluctant to pharmacologic treatment and seem to prefer nonpharmacological interventions. Therefore, this proof-of-concept study aimed to investigate the feasibility of continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (cTBS) on the pre-SMA in six patients (5 males, 1 female), aged 30-64 years, with a DSM-5 diagnosis of Gambling Disorder and no comorbid mood disorders. Participants received over 10 sessions of Continuous TBS (cTBS) over pre-SMA bilaterally and have been evaluated using rating scales, including the PG-YBOCS and the CGI, before treatment (T0), at day 10 of treatment (T1) and at day 30 after treatment (T2); cTBS intervention was safe and without side effects. Since the design of our study does not allow us to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of the intervention with respect to the improvement of the functioning of the subject with GD, a more in-depth study, including a sham condition, neurocognitive measures of disinhibition and decision making, and collecting follow-up data on the sustained effect of TBS over a longer period is ongoing.

Objective Several studies showed that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances cognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), however, whether tDCS leads to additional gains when combined with cognitive training remains unclear. This study aims to compare the effects of a concurrent tDCS-cognitive training intervention with either tDCS or cognitive training alone on a group of patients with MCI. Methods The study was a 3-parallel-arm study. The intervention consisted of 20 daily sessions of 20 minutes each. Patients (n = 62) received anodal tDCS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cognitive training on 5 cognitive domains (orientation, attention, memory, language, and executive functions), or both. To examine intervention gains, we examined global cognitive functioning, verbal short-term memory, visuospatial memory, and verbal fluency pre- and post-intervention. Results All outcome measures improved after the intervention in the 3 groups. The improvement in global cognitive functioning and verbal fluency was significantly larger in patients who received the combined intervention. Instead, the intervention gain in verbal short-term memory and visuospatial memory was similar across the 3 groups. Discussion tDCS, regardless of the practicalities, could be an efficacious treatment in combination with cognitive training given the increased effectiveness of the combined treatment. Conclusions Future studies will need to consider individual differences at baseline, including genetic factors and anatomical differences that impact the electric field generated by tDCS and should also consider the feasibility of at-home treatments consisting of the application of tDCS with cognitive training.