ArticleMolecular psychiatry2022
Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens in the treatment of severe alcohol use disorder: a phase I pilot trial.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 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 30 papers, 2 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.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for the Treatment of Refractory Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD): Pilot Trial
Deep Brain Stimulation for Disorders of Addiction: Mechanisms and a Pilot Blinded Randomized Cross-over Placebo Controlled Trial
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of deep brain stimulation for substance use disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of neuromodulation therapies for substance use disorders.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Cross-species brain-wide mapping reveals convergent mesocorticolimbic engagement by nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- State-Dependent Modulation of a Theta-Responsive Subnetwork by High-Frequency Stimulation of the Ventral Striatum.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Radiomodulation-The Final Frontier of Radiosurgery?Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Recruitment feasibility for deep brain stimulation compared to transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment trials for methamphetamine use disorder.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Temporal Interference Electrical Stimulation for Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Mechanisms, Applications, and Translational Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Education shares distinct genetic influences with substance use and disorder.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Change in brain molecular landscapes following electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Prefrontal cortex temporally multiplexes slow and fast dynamics in value learning and memory.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Deep Brain Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Psychiatric Disorders: Efficacy, Safety, and Future Directions.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Multitarget neurostimulation of the deep brain: clinical opportunities, challenges, and emerging technologies.Journal of neural engineering · 2025Review
- Emerging Interventions in Behavioral Addictions: A Narrative Review of Psychedelics and Neuromodulation.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Chronic intermittent alcohol yields sex-specific disruptions in cortical-striatal-limbic oscillations in rats.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Article
- Illuminating posterior targets for TMS beyond the prefrontal cortex.Nature. Mental health · 2025Article
- Nucleus Accumbens: A Therapeutic Target for Radiomodulation for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder.Cureus · 2025Review
- The brain's action-mode network.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- Modulation of Alcohol Use Disorder by Brain Stimulation.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Harnessing the sensing and stimulation function of deep brain-machine interfaces: a new dawn for overcoming substance use disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2024Review
- Deep brain stimulation for psychostimulant use disorders.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent, often refractory, medical illness. The symptoms of AUD are driven by dysfunction in several neurocircuits centered on the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Case reports and animal studies suggest NAc-DBS may be an effective harm-reduction treatment in severe AUD. Six patients with severe, refractory AUD underwent NAc-DBS. Safety metrics and clinical outcomes were recorded. Positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) was used to measure glucose metabolism in the NAc at baseline and 6 months. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to characterize postoperative changes in NAc functional connectivity to the rest of the brain, as well as NAc and dorsal striatal reactivity to alcoholic visual cues. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03660124. All patients experienced a reduction in craving. There was a significant reduction in alcohol consumption, alcohol-related compulsivity, and anxiety at 12 months. There was no significant change in depression. FDG-PET analysis demonstrated reduced NAc metabolism by 6 months, which correlated with improvements in compulsive drinking behaviors. Clinical improvement correlated with reduced functional connectivity between the NAc and the visual association cortex. Active DBS was associated with reduced activation of the dorsal striatum during passive viewing of alcohol-containing pictures. NAc-DBS is feasible and safe in patients with severe, otherwise refractory AUD. It is associated with a reduction in cravings and addictive behavior. A potential mechanism underlying this process is a down-regulation of the NAc, a disruption of its functional connectivity to the visual association cortex, and interference of cue-elicited dorsal striatum reactivity. Trial Registration NCT03660124 ( www.clinicaltrials.gov ).
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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.