No influence of one right-sided prefrontal HF-rTMS session on alcohol craving in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients: Results of a naturalistic study

Abstract

Background: Prior research in substance dependence has suggested potential anti-craving

Noninvasive brain stimulation to suppress craving in substance use disorders: Review of human evidence and methodological considerations for future work

“…In sum, two studies (Mishra et al 2011; De Ridder et al 2011) have shown a significant decrease in alcohol craving following active stimulation and three studies have reported negative findings (Herremans et al , 2012, 2013; Höppner et al, 2011). Diverse stimulation parameters and different types of patients may have caused the important discrepancies between results in the aforementioned studies.…”

“…No significant differences were found in craving and mood when comparing active and sham rTMS groups (Höppner et al, 2011). Herremans et al (2012) focused on the effect of a single session of high frequency rTMS (20Hz; 110% RMT) over the right DLPFC on alcohol craving. The study regrouped 36 AUD patients detoxified for 12 days and evaluated alcohol craving with the OCDS before and after the single rTMS session.…”

“…The authors report no significant differences in alcohol craving when comparing active to sham rTMS groups. It is worth noting that the rTMS was delivered at home and that these patients had stopped taking medication (benzodiazepine) before the experiment (Herremans et al, 2012). Following this study, the same research group (Herremans et al, 2013) assessed the effect of a single session of rTMS (20Hz; 110% RMT) over the right DLPFC in AUD patients detoxified for 14 days.…”

What goes up, can come down: Novel brain stimulation paradigms may attenuate craving and craving-related neural circuitry in substance dependent individuals

“…To date the vast majority of rTMS studies in addiction have targeted the same neural region—the DLPFC —a node in the frontal-striatal network that governs executive control (Amiaz et al, 2009; Camprodon et al, 2007; Eichhammer et al, 2003; Herremans et al, 2012, 2013; Hoppner et al, 2011; Li et al, 2013; Mishra et al, 2010; Politi et al, 2008; Pripfl et al, 2014). While many of these studies demonstrated that high frequency (LTP-like) rTMS stimulation to the DLPFC can result in a significant reduction of craving, the neurobiological mechanism through which this happens is not clear.…”

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Deep Brain Stimulation in the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence

“…To the best of our knowledge, there have been so far only five original articles assessing repetitive TMS (rTMS) as a treatment for alcohol dependence (31-35). Two of the cited articles targeted the (right) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (33,34). The first did not find a significant treatment effect of a single session of TMS on craving.…”