ArticleExperimental and clinical psychopharmacology2021
Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens/ventral capsule for severe and intractable opioid and benzodiazepine use disorder.
Article in Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rewiring reward in addiction: a systematic review of human evidence for deep brain stimulation and lesion approaches in substance use disorders.Acta neurochirurgica · 2026Pooled it
- Neuroplasticity and recovery of the brain affected by substance use disorder: multilevel mechanisms and new therapeutic strategies (2020-2025).Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of deep brain stimulation for substance use disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Radiomodulation-The Final Frontier of Radiosurgery?Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Electrophysiology and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cue Craving: Potential Biomarkers for Therapeutic Neuromodulation in Addiction.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Review
- Epigenetic mechanisms of HIV and opioid-induced neuropathology: Potential therapies and interventions.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2025Review
- Deep Brain Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Psychiatric Disorders: Efficacy, Safety, and Future Directions.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Nucleus Accumbens: A Therapeutic Target for Radiomodulation for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder.Cureus · 2025Review
- Harnessing the sensing and stimulation function of deep brain-machine interfaces: a new dawn for overcoming substance use disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2024Review
- Public Perceptions of Treating Opioid Use Disorder With Deep Brain Stimulation: Comment Analysis Study.Online journal of public health informatics · 2024Article
- Deep brain stimulation for psychostimulant use disorders.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Review
- A protocol of a systematic review on deep brain stimulation surgery and its efficacy in addressing substance abuse addiction.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Neural circuits controlling choice behavior in opioid addiction.Neuropharmacology · 2023Review
- Effects of monotherapy with a monoamine oxidase B inhibitor on motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease are dependent on frontal function.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2023Article
- Deep brain stimulation for substance use disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Oxycodone-induced dopaminergic and respiratory effects are modulated by deep brain stimulation.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- Deep Brain Stimulation for Addictive Disorders-Where Are We Now?Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2022Review
- Naloxone precipitated withdrawal increases dopamine release in the dorsal striatum of opioid dependent men.Translational psychiatry · 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
17 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Given high relapse rates and the prevalence of overdose deaths, novel treatments for substance use disorder (SUD) are desperately needed for those who are treatment refractory. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for SUD and the effects of DBS on substance use, substance craving, emotional symptoms, and frontal/executive functions. DBS electrodes were implanted bilaterally within the Nucleus Accumbens/Ventral anterior internal capsule (NAc/VC) of a man in his early 30s with >10-year history of severe treatment refractory opioid and benzodiazepine use disorders. DBS of the NAc/VC was found to be safe with no serious adverse events noted and the participant remained abstinent and engaged in comprehensive treatment at the 12-week endpoint (and 12-month extended follow-up). Using a 0-100 visual analog scale, substance cravings decreased post-DBS implantation; most substantially in benzodiazepine craving following the final DBS titration (1.0 ± 2.2) compared to baseline (53.4 ± 29.5; p < .001). A trend toward improvement in frontal/executive function was observed on the balloon analog risk task performance following the final titration (217.7 ± 76.2) compared to baseline (131.3 ± 28.1, p = .066). FDG PET demonstrated an increase in glucose metabolism in the dorsolateral prefrontal and medial premotor cortices at the 12-week endpoint compared to post-surgery/pre-DBS titration. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) improved following the final titration (rMSSD = 56.0 ± 11.7) compared to baseline (19.2 ± 8.2; p < .001). In a participant with severe, treatment refractory opioid and benzodiazepine use disorder, DBS of the NAc/VC was safe, reduced substance use and craving, and improved frontal and executive functions. Confirmation of these findings with future studies is needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.