ArticleBiological psychiatry global open science2023
Medial Prefrontal Cortex Theta Burst Stimulation Improves Treatment Outcomes in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Neuroimaging Study.
Article in Biological psychiatry global open science, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Alcohol Craving, Efficacy, Emotion, and Cognitive Function in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled 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
- 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
- Intermittent theta burst to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex promoted decreased alcohol consumption and improved outcomes in those with alcohol use disorder: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- 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
- A preliminary randomized controlled trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in treatment seeking participants with cannabis use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Trial
- Combining acute alcohol administration with accelerated prefrontal theta burst stimulation: A pilot study of feasibility and inhibitory control.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Probing the neurochemical mechanisms of rTMS for alcohol use disorder: Results from a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind, crossover, proton MR Spectroscopy study.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- The power of context: Enhancing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation effects through skillful behavior.Behavioural brain research · 2026Article
- Behavioral and Functional Neuroimaging Effects of Delivering a Course of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Personalized Targets Within the Ventrolateral Or Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Treatment-Seeking Participants with Cannabis Use Disorder.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Adapting a Regulation of Craving Magnetic Resonance Imaging Task to Generate Functional Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Targets for the Ventromedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Treatment-Seeking Participants with Cannabis Use Disorder.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Females have shorter scalp-to-cortex distances and receive stronger TMS electrical fields: Implications for clinical treatment.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Treatment of alcohol use disorder via magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound ablation surgery.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- The Impaired Response Inhibition and Salience Attribution Model of Drug Addiction: Recent Neuroimaging Evidence and Future Directions.Annual review of psychology · 2026Review
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for substance use disorders and chronic pain: A review of the evidence and call for increased mechanistic understanding.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Alcohol Withdrawal Alters the Inhibitory Landscape of the Prelimbic Cortex in an Interneuron- and Sex-specific Manner.Addiction neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Repeated alcohol drinking in mice is associated with bidirectional alterations in corticostriatal coherence.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- Lorcaserin modulation of semantic drug cue-elicited effective brain connectivity in persons with cocaine and opioid use disorders.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2025Article
- Trialing addiction neurocircuitry targets and directionality of brain stimulation effects: A deep TMS/fMRI trial in people with alcohol use disorder.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with elevated brain response to cues. Recent studies have suggested that theta burst stimulation (TBS) to the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) can decrease reactivity to cues in a transdiagnostic manner. The goal of this clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of continuous TBS as a tool to decrease drinking behavior and brain reactivity to alcohol cues among individuals with AUD. Methods: A total of 50 individuals with AUD were recruited from an intensive outpatient treatment program. Using a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled design, participants received 10 sessions of continuous TBS (left frontal pole, 1 session/10 days, 110% resting motor threshold, 3600 pulse/session, cue provocation before and during session). Brain reactivity to alcohol cues was acquired at four time points: at baseline and after all TBS sessions (1 month, 2 months, and 3 months). Results: Overall, 80% of the participants completed all TBS sessions. Individuals who received real TBS were 2.71 times more likely to remain enrolled in the study after 3 months and 3.09 times more likely to remain sober 3 months after treatment initiation. Real TBS also led to a significantly greater reduction in brain reactivity to alcohol cues, specifically a reduction in MPFC-striatum and MPFC-insula connectivity 2 and 3 months after TBS treatment. Conclusions: Ten days of MPFC TBS is well tolerated, reduces drinking, and decreases brain reactivity to alcohol cues for up to 3 months after treatment initiation. These results pave a critical next step in the path toward developing transcranial magnetic stimulation as an intervention for AUD and disorders associated with elevated cue reactivity.
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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.