ArticleNature medicine2022
Brain lesions disrupting addiction map to a common human brain circuit.
Article in Nature medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 139 papers, 3 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.
Neural Mechanisms of Anxiety During Early and Protracted Abstinence in Alcohol Use Disorder
Temporal Interference Methods for Addiction Treatment
Who cites it
139 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 194 citations in OpenAlex.
- Network localization of regional intrinsic neural activity alterations in migraine and their neurochemical correlates.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Pooled it
- The resting-state brain activity signatures for addictive disorders.Med (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Pooled it
- Pathological fear, anxiety and negative affect exhibit distinct neurostructural signatures: evidence from psychiatric neuroimaging meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Medial Prefrontal Cortex Theta Burst Stimulation for Cocaine Use Disorder: A Three-Month Feasibility and Brain Target Engagement Study.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Trial
- Linking Invasive and Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Trial.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2024Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of intermittent theta burst stimulation to the medial prefrontal cortex for tobacco use disorder: Clinical efficacy and safety.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Trial
- Repetitive deep TMS in alcohol dependent patients halts progression of white matter changes in early abstinence.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2024Trial
- Effects of Hyperdirect Pathway Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Inhibitory Control, Craving, and Smoking in Adults With Nicotine Dependence: A Double-Blind, Randomized Crossover Trial.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2023Trial
- Combining neuroimaging and brain stimulation to test alternative causal pathways for nicotine addiction in schizophrenia.Brain stimulationTrial
- Sleep and Drug Use: Neuroimaging Evidence for a Multidimensional Brain Framework.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Neuromodulation for restoring and amplifying brain function.Nature neuroscience · 2026Review
- Convergence of TMS Sites and Lesion Locations Associated With Nicotine Addiction Improvement on a Common Brain Circuit.The American journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Multi-modal lesion mapping of expressive aprosodia.Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · 2026Article
- Remote network for cognitive symptoms derived from tau accumulation in progressive supranuclear palsy.Science advances · 2026Article
- Brain Structural and Functional Alteration Network Localization of Visual Hallucinations.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Article
- Article
- Determinants of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Efficacy in Tobacco Use Disorder: A Pre-Registered Study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Depression as a Disease of White Matter Network Disruption: Learning From Multiple Sclerosis.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Functional connectivity response to distress-inducing auditory feedback associated with short-term smoking abstinence.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- A clinical neuroimaging platform for rapid, automated lesion detection and personalized post-stroke outcome prediction.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
79 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
16 authors at 8 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Drug addiction is a public health crisis for which new treatments are urgently needed. In rare cases, regional brain damage can lead to addiction remission. These cases may be used to identify therapeutic targets for neuromodulation. We analyzed two cohorts of patients addicted to smoking at the time of focal brain damage (cohort 1 n = 67; cohort 2 n = 62). Lesion locations were mapped to a brain atlas and the brain network functionally connected to each lesion location was computed using human connectome data (n = 1,000). Associations with addiction remission were identified. Generalizability was assessed using an independent cohort of patients with focal brain damage and alcohol addiction risk scores (n = 186). Specificity was assessed through comparison to 37 other neuropsychological variables. Lesions disrupting smoking addiction occurred in many different brain locations but were characterized by a specific pattern of brain connectivity. This pattern involved positive connectivity to the dorsal cingulate, lateral prefrontal cortex, and insula and negative connectivity to the medial prefrontal and temporal cortex. This circuit was reproducible across independent lesion cohorts, associated with reduced alcohol addiction risk, and specific to addiction metrics. Hubs that best matched the connectivity profile for addiction remission were the paracingulate gyrus, left frontal operculum, and medial fronto-polar cortex. We conclude that brain lesions disrupting addiction map to a specific human brain circuit and that hubs in this circuit provide testable targets for therapeutic neuromodulation.
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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.