Saba Niknamfar, Kamaledin Alaedini, Azarakhsh Mokri, Eisa Nazar, Raheleh Rafaiee, Seyedeh Masoumeh Seyedhosseini Tamijani, Seyed Hamzeh Hosseini, Hamed Ghazvini
{"title":"tDCS Targeting the DLPFC for Reducing Cigarette Craving and Risky Decision Making.","authors":"Saba Niknamfar, Kamaledin Alaedini, Azarakhsh Mokri, Eisa Nazar, Raheleh Rafaiee, Seyedeh Masoumeh Seyedhosseini Tamijani, Seyed Hamzeh Hosseini, Hamed Ghazvini","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.2297.4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cigarette smoking is a prevalent addictive behavior. Despite its well-known health risks, many individuals are unable to quit. One of the key factors contributing to the failure of smoking cessation efforts is the presence of craving and the tendency toward risk-taking behaviors. Noninvasive brain stimulation techniques have recently emerged as potential treatments for addiction. The present study is a pilot trial examining the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on risk-taking, electroencephalogram frequency power, and their relationship with cue-induced nicotine craving in smokers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this double-blind study, which is part of a larger randomized clinical trial, 63 cigarette smokers who met the international classification of disease-10 (ICD-10) criteria for tobacco addiction were enrolled. tDCS sham, left anodal/right cathodal, and right anodal/left cathodal tDCS will be applied to three participant groups. Participants were required to refrain from smoking for at least 2 hours before the study visit. The effects of tDCS on cue-triggered nicotine craving, certain risky decision-making tasks, and some resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) frequency power analyses will be evaluated both before and after tDCS (2 mA for 20 minutes) applied to the DLPFC on 5 consecutive days.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Although several studies have reported that tDCS may have beneficial effects on drug abuse by suppressing the degrees of cravings, impulsivity, and risk decision making, to date, no study has evaluated the impact of tDCS on the DLPFC and its relationship with EEG frequency power characteristics. The results of this study are anticipated to represent a significant step toward improving smoking cessation efforts. The findings from this randomized controlled trial will explore the therapeutic potential of tDCS in treating nicotine addiction among smokers.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"857-868"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220687/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.32598/bcn.2025.2297.4","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Cigarette smoking is a prevalent addictive behavior. Despite its well-known health risks, many individuals are unable to quit. One of the key factors contributing to the failure of smoking cessation efforts is the presence of craving and the tendency toward risk-taking behaviors. Noninvasive brain stimulation techniques have recently emerged as potential treatments for addiction. The present study is a pilot trial examining the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on risk-taking, electroencephalogram frequency power, and their relationship with cue-induced nicotine craving in smokers.
Methods: In this double-blind study, which is part of a larger randomized clinical trial, 63 cigarette smokers who met the international classification of disease-10 (ICD-10) criteria for tobacco addiction were enrolled. tDCS sham, left anodal/right cathodal, and right anodal/left cathodal tDCS will be applied to three participant groups. Participants were required to refrain from smoking for at least 2 hours before the study visit. The effects of tDCS on cue-triggered nicotine craving, certain risky decision-making tasks, and some resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) frequency power analyses will be evaluated both before and after tDCS (2 mA for 20 minutes) applied to the DLPFC on 5 consecutive days.
Conclusion: Although several studies have reported that tDCS may have beneficial effects on drug abuse by suppressing the degrees of cravings, impulsivity, and risk decision making, to date, no study has evaluated the impact of tDCS on the DLPFC and its relationship with EEG frequency power characteristics. The results of this study are anticipated to represent a significant step toward improving smoking cessation efforts. The findings from this randomized controlled trial will explore the therapeutic potential of tDCS in treating nicotine addiction among smokers.
期刊介绍:
BCN is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes editorials, original full-length research articles, short communications, reviews, methodological papers, commentaries, perspectives and “news and reports” in the broad fields of developmental, molecular, cellular, system, computational, behavioral, cognitive, and clinical neuroscience. No area in the neural related sciences is excluded from consideration, although priority is given to studies that provide applied insights into the functioning of the nervous system. BCN aims to advance our understanding of organization and function of the nervous system in health and disease, thereby improving the diagnosis and treatment of neural-related disorders. Manuscripts submitted to BCN should describe novel results generated by experiments that were guided by clearly defined aims or hypotheses. BCN aims to provide serious ties in interdisciplinary communication, accessibility to a broad readership inside Iran and the region and also in all other international academic sites, effective peer review process, and independence from all possible non-scientific interests. BCN also tries to empower national, regional and international collaborative networks in the field of neuroscience in Iran, Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa and to be the voice of the Iranian and regional neuroscience community in the world of neuroscientists. In this way, the journal encourages submission of editorials, review papers, commentaries, methodological notes and perspectives that address this scope.