ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2016
Bilateral Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Reduces Cocaine Intake: A Pilot Study.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of neurostimulation across mental disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis of 208 randomized controlled trials.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Transcranial electrical and magnetic stimulation (tES and TMS) for addiction medicine: A consensus paper on the present state of the science and the road ahead.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation on Stimulant Craving in Users of Cocaine, Amphetamine, or Methamphetamine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Pooled it
- Can deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (DTMS) be used to treat substance use disorders (SUD)? A systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- Brain connectomics markers for response prediction to transcranial magnetic stimulation in cocaine use disorder.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effects of 10 add-on HF-rTMS treatment sessions on alcohol use and craving among detoxified inpatients with alcohol use disorder: a randomized sham-controlled clinical trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- A double-blind sham-controlled phase 1 clinical trial of tDCS of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in cocaine inpatients: Craving, sleepiness, and contemplation to change.The European journal of neuroscience · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Effect of Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Impulse Inhibition in Abstinent Patients With Methamphetamine Addiction: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2020Trial
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) administration to heavy cannabis users.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2018Trial
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation in cocaine use disorder and the risk of seizure: a review of the evidence.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Non-invasive neurostimulation techniques for the treatment of stimulant use disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for substance use disorders and chronic pain: A review of the evidence and call for increased mechanistic understanding.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Abnormal ventromedial-to-dorsolateral hierarchical topography of striatal circuits in cocaine use disorder and its modulations by brain stimulation.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Harnessing neuroimaging-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation for precision therapy in substance use disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Emerging neuromodulation treatments for opioid and stimulant use disorders.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Targeting VMPFC-amygdala circuit with TMS in substance use disorder: A mechanistic framework.Addiction biology · 2025Article
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a Tool to Promote Smoking Cessation and Decrease Drug and Alcohol Use.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- Transcranial Stimulation for the Treatment of Stimulant Use Disorder.Neurology international · 2023Review
- Role of maintenance treatment on long-term efficacy of bilateral iTBS of the prefrontal cortex in treatment-seeking cocaine addicts: A retrospective analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic cocaine consumption is associated with a decrease in mesolimbic dopamine transmission that maintains drug intake. transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is gaining reliability, a useful therapeutic tool in drug addiction, since it can modulate cortico-limbic activity resulting in reduction of drug craving.
aimsIn the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of bilateral TMS of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in reducing cocaine intake, in a sample of treatment-seeking patients with current cocaine use disorder (DSM-V).
methodsTen cocaine addicts (DSM-V) were randomly assigned to the active or sham stimulation protocol in a double-blind experimental design. Twelve repetitive TMS (rTMS) sessions were administered three times a week for 4 weeks at 100% of motor threshold, over bilateral PFC. Cocaine intake (ng/mg) was assessed by hair analysis at baseline (before treatment, T0), after 1 month (end of treatment, T1), 3 (T2), and 6 (T3) months later. All subjects received psychological support weekly.
resultsThe two-way ANOVA for repeated measures did not show a significant effect of the interaction between time and treatment (F 4,32 = 0.35; p = 0.87). Despite that result indicated no difference in the effect of the two conditions (active vs. sham) along time, a decreasing trend in cocaine consumption in active TMS group (F 3,23 = 3.42; p = 0.04) vs. sham (F 3,15 = 1.88; p = 0.20) was observed when we performed exploratory analysis with time as factor. Indeed, Post hoc comparisons showed a significant reduction in the amount of cocaine detected from the onset to 3 months later (T0-T2; p = 0.02) and to the end of treatment (T0-T3; p = 0.01) in addicts from the active group.
conclusionBilateral rTMS of PFC at 10 Hz did not show a significant effect on cocaine intake compared to sham. However, a long-term reduction on cocaine intake in active TMS-treated patients was observed when we considered the time as factor. Further studies are required to confirm these encouraging but preliminary findings, in order to consolidate rTMS as a valid tool to treat cocaine addiction.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.