ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2019
The Insula: A Brain Stimulation Target for the Treatment of Addiction.
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 130 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Dark and Gloomy Brain: Grey Matter Volume Alterations in Major Depressive Disorder-Fine-Grained Meta-Analyses.Depression and anxiety · 2024Pooled it
- Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for schizophrenia: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Do mindfulness-based interventions change brain function in people with substance dependence? A systematic review of the fMRI evidence.BMC psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Internet addiction-induced brain structure and function alterations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity studies.Brain imaging and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation associated with physical exercise can help smokers to quit smoking: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Efficacy and Neural Mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation Among Adults With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Ketamine's acute effects on negative brain states are mediated through distinct altered states of consciousness in humans.Nature communications · 2023Trial
- Serotonergic psychedelics induce distinct patterns of metabolic activity and covariance within biologically informed rat brain networks.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Differential adolescent neurodevelopment of emotion processing across internalizing psychopathology and childhood adversity.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Linking Affective Symptoms and Brain Morphology in Cocaine Use Disorder: An Integrated Network Approach.European addiction research · 2026Article
- Association of stress-sensitive mid-insula activity with alcohol drinking and negative affect-like behavior during abstinence in mice.Neuropharmacology · 2026Article
- Modulating cue-induced craving in alcohol dependence syndrome: A functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level-dependent activation study of adjunctive cathodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation over the insula.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on cigarette smoking consumption in type 2 diabetes patients: study protocol of a randomized, parallel -controlled clinical trial.Frontiers in clinical diabetes and healthcare · 2026Article
- The influence of stress and social defeat on neurobiological reinforcement mechanisms across reward to withdrawal in nicotine addiction.Psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Regulation of addiction by the insular cortex: The interplay between interoception and cognitive function.iScience · 2025Review
- Impairment of the GABAergic system in the anterior insular cortex of heroin-addicted males.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Interoceptive Processing in Substance Use Disorders (SUDs): From the Neuroanatomy to Insights from Computational Models and Predictive Coding Frameworks.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Emerging Theories of Allostatic-Interoceptive Overload in Neurodegeneration.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Application of digital health technologies to substance use reduction among students in higher education institutions: A scoping review.F1000Research · 2025Article
- Re-evaluating our focus in addiction: emotional dysregulation is a critical driver of relapse to drug use.Translational psychiatry · 2024Review
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a growing public health concern with only a limited number of approved treatments. However, even approved treatments are subject to limited efficacy with high long-term relapse rates. Current treatment approaches are typically a combination of pharmacotherapies and behavioral counselling. Growing evidence and technological advances suggest the potential of brain stimulation techniques for the treatment of SUDs. There are three main brain stimulation techniques that are outlined in this review: transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and deep brain stimulation (DBS). The insula, a region of the cerebral cortex, is known to be involved in critical aspects underlying SUDs, such as interoception, decision making, anxiety, pain perception, cognition, mood, threat recognition, and conscious urges. This review focuses on both the preclinical and clinical evidence demonstrating the role of the insula in addiction, thereby demonstrating its promise as a target for brain stimulation. Future research should evaluate the optimal parameters for brain stimulation of the insula, through the use of relevant biomarkers and clinical outcomes for SUDs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.