Trial reportBiological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging2020
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Applied to the Dorsolateral and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortices in Smokers Modifies Cognitive Circuits Implicated in the Nicotine Withdrawal Syndrome.
Trial report in Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01511614 (Identifying Neurobiological Mechanisms That Underlie Acute Nicotine Withdrawal and Drive Early Relapse in Smokers), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Identifying Neurobiological Mechanisms That Underlie Acute Nicotine Withdrawal and Drive Early Relapse in Smokers
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuromodulation to Treat Substance Use Disorders in People With Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Smoking Cessation: A Narrative Review of Neurobiological Mechanisms from Craving Modulation to Neural Circuit Restoration.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Altered Regional Brain Activity Underlying the Higher Postoperative Analgesic Requirements in Abstinent Smokers: A Prospective Cohort Study.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neurobiological Mechanisms of Action of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs)-A Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Interrelated involvement of the endocannabinoid/endovanilloid (TRPV1) systems and epigenetic processes in anxiety- and working memory impairment-related behavioural effects of nicotine as a stressor.Addiction biology · 2024Article
- Altered executive control network and default model network topology are linked to acute electronic cigarette use: A resting-state fNIRS study.Addiction biology · 2024Article
- Brain stimulation therapeutics.Addiction neuroscience · 2023Article
- Ventral striatal subregional dysfunction in late-life grief: Relationships with yearning and depressive symptoms.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Article
- Misconfigured striatal connectivity profiles in smokers.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Article
- The Brain Activation-Based Sexual Image Classifier (BASIC): A Sensitive and Specific fMRI Activity Pattern for Sexual Image Processing.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2022Article
- Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Nicotine Dependence in Schizophrenia: A Mini Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
- Nicotinic receptor modulation of the default mode network.Psychopharmacology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe nicotine withdrawal syndrome remains a major impediment to smoking cessation. Cognitive and affective disturbances are associated with altered connectivity within and between the executive control network, default mode network (DMN), and salience network. We hypothesized that functional activity in cognitive control networks, and downstream amygdala circuits, would be modified by application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the left (L) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC, executive control network) and right (R) ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC, DMN).
methodsA total of 15 smokers (7 women) and 28 matched nonsmokers (14 women) participated in a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind, exploratory crossover study of 3 tDCS conditions: anodal-(L)dlPFC/cathodal-(R)vmPFC, reversed polarity, and sham. Cognitive tasks probed withdrawal-related constructs (error monitoring, working memory, amygdalar reactivity), while simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging measured brain activity. We assessed tDCS impact on trait (nonsmokers vs. sated smokers) and state (sated vs. abstinent) smoking aspects.
resultsSingle-session, anodal-(L)dlPFC/cathodal-(R)vmPFC tDCS enhanced deactivation of DMN nodes during the working memory task and strengthened anterior cingulate cortex activity during the error-monitoring task. Smokers were more responsive to tDCS-induced DMN deactivation when sated (vs. withdrawn) and displayed greater cingulate activity during error monitoring than nonsmokers. Nicotine withdrawal reduced task engagement and attention and reduced suppression of DMN nodes.
conclusionsCognitive circuit dysregulation associated with nicotine withdrawal may be modifiable by anodal tDCS applied to L-dlPFC and cathodal tDCS applied to R-vmPFC. tDCS may have stronger effects as a complement to existing therapies, such as nicotine replacement, owing to possible enhanced plasticity in the sated state.
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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.