Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34232905›Full record

ReviewJournal of behavioral addictions2021

The role of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of behavioral addictions: Two case reports and review of the literature.

Diego Cuppone, Luis J Gómez Pérez, Stefano Cardullo, Nicola Cellini, Michela Sarlo, Silvia Soldatesca, Sonia Chindamo, Graziella Madeo, Luigi Gallimberti

Open access · goldAbstract readCase ReportsReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. From Pornography to Somatic Symptoms. A Moderated Mediation Model Involving Moral Disapproval of Pornography and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Diego Cuppone1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.
Luis J Gómez Pérez1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.
Stefano Cardullo1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.
Nicola Cellini2Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova, Italy.
Michela Sarlo6Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy.
Silvia Soldatesca1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.
Sonia Chindamo1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.
Graziella Madeo1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.
Luigi Gallimberti1Novella Fronda Foundation, Piazza Castello, 16 - 35141, Padua, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-5724-7704
University of Padua · ITUniversity of Urbino · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSeveral behaviors, besides consumption of psychoactive substances, produce short-term reward that may lead to persistent aberrant behavior despite adverse consequences. Growing evidence suggests that these behaviors warrant consideration as nonsubstance or "behavioral" addictions, such as pathological gambling, internet gaming disorder and internet addiction. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we report two cases of behavioral addictions (BA), compulsive sexual behavior disorder for online porn use and internet gaming disorder. A 57-years-old male referred a loss of control over his online pornography use, started 15 years before, while a 21-years-old male university student reported an excessive online gaming activity undermining his academic productivity and social life. Both patients underwent a high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) protocol over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC) in a multidisciplinary therapeutic setting. A decrease of addictive symptoms and an improvement of executive control were observed in both cases. DISCUSSION: Starting from these clinical observations, we provide a systematic review of the literature suggesting that BAs share similar neurobiological mechanisms to those underlying substance use disorders (SUD). Moreover, we discuss whether neurocircuit-based interventions, such as rTMS, might represent a potential effective treatment for BAs.

Indexed as

Transcranial Magnetic StimulationBehavior, AddictiveEroticaHumansInternet Addiction DisorderMaleMiddle AgedPrefrontal CortexTreatment OutcomeYoung Adultbehavioral addiction (BA)compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD)dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)internet gaming disorder (IGD)repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

Identifiers

PMID34232905
PMCPMC8996794
OpenAlexW3182783837

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.