Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic and disabling condition that often responds unsatisfactorily to pharmacological and psychological treatments. Converging evidence suggests a dysfunction of the cortical-striatalthalamic-cortical circuit in OCD, and a previous feasibility study indicated beneficial effects of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) targeting the medial prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. The authors examined the therapeutic effect of dTMS in a multicenter double-blind sham-controlled study.Methods: At 11 centers, 99 OCD patients were randomly allocated to treatment with either high-frequency (20 Hz) or sham dTMS and received daily treatments following individualized symptom provocation, for 6 weeks. Clinical response to treatment was determined using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), and the primary efficacy endpoint was the change in score from baseline to posttreatment assessment. Additional measures were response rates (defined as a reduction of $30% in YBOCS score) at the posttreatment assessment and after another month of follow-up.
HF DTMS over the mPFC-ACC alleviates OCD symptoms and may be used as a novel therapeutic intervention. Notwithstanding alternative explanations, this may stem from DTMS ability to directly modify ACC activity.
Rationale and objective-Relapse to drug use in humans can be induced by exposure to drugassociated cues. The ability of drug cues to provoke 'relapse' has been studied in laboratory animals using a reinstatement model in which resumption of drug seeking is assessed after extinction of drug-reinforced responding. In this model, there are no adverse consequences of drug-seeking behavior. However, in humans abstinence is often self-imposed, and relapse episodes likely involve making a choice between the desire for the drug and the negative consequences of pursuing it (a conflict situation). Here, we describe a conflict model of cueinduced relapse in rats that approximate the human condition.Methods-Rats were trained to lever-press for cocaine; infusions were paired with a discrete light-cue. An 'electric barrier' was then introduced by electrifying the floor area near the levers. Responding decreased over days with increasing shock intensities, until the rats did not approach the levers for 3 days. Subsequently, the effect of intermittent non-contingent-light-cue presentations on resumption of lever responding (relapse) was assessed in extinction tests, with the electric barrier remaining activated; during testing lever-presses led to contingent light-cue presentations.Results-Non-contingent cue exposure led to resumption of lever presses during the relapse tests in 14 of the 24 rats. Surprisingly, 24 h later, 11 of the 24 rats resumed lever responding in a subsequent post non-contingent cue test under similar extinction conditions. Large individual differences in responding were observed during both tests.Conclusions-At its current stage of development, the conflict relapse model appears particularly suitable for studying individual differences in cue-induced relapse to cocaine seeking or factors that promote this relapse. KeywordsAnimal models; Drug cues; Cocaine self-administration; Reinstatement; Relapse Cocaine addiction is characterized by high rates of relapse to drug use during abstinence (Mendelson and Mello 1996). In humans, cocaine relapse and craving can be induced by acute exposure to cues previously associated with cocaine use (O'Brien 2005). The ability of cocaine cues to provoke 'relapse' to drug use has been studied in laboratory animals using different variations of a reinstatement model (Shaham et al. 2003). Typically, in these studies laboratory animals are trained to lever-press for drug infusions in the presence of distinct cues (e.g., tone, light, specific odors); then, following extinction of lever responding in the absence of the drug cues, non-reinforced resumption of pressing on the drug-
Drug addiction is associated with long-lasting neuronal adaptations including alterations in dopamine and glutamate receptors in the brain reward system. Treatment strategies for cocaine addiction and especially the prevention of craving and relapse are limited, and their effectiveness is still questionable. We hypothesized that repeated stimulation of the brain reward system can induce localized neuronal adaptations that may either potentiate or reduce addictive behaviors. The present study was designed to test how repeated interference with the brain reward system using localized electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle at the lateral hypothalamus (LH) or the prefrontal cortex (PFC) affects cocaine addiction-associated behaviors and some of the neuronal adaptations induced by repeated exposure to cocaine. Repeated high-frequency stimulation in either site influenced cocaine, but not sucrose reward-related behaviors. Stimulation of the LH reduced cue-induced seeking behavior, whereas stimulation of the PFC reduced both cocaine-seeking behavior and the motivation for its consumption. The behavioral findings were accompanied by glutamate receptor subtype alterations in the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area, both key structures of the reward system. It is therefore suggested that repeated electrical stimulation of the PFC can become a novel strategy for treating addiction.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method increasingly used to treat psychiatric disorders, primarily depression. Initial studies suggest that rTMS may help to treat addictions, but evaluation in multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is needed. We conducted a multicenter double-blind RCT in 262 chronic smokers meeting DSM-5 criteria for tobacco use disorder, who had made at least one prior failed attempt to quit, with 68% having made at least three failed attempts. They received three weeks of daily bilateral active or sham rTMS to the lateral prefrontal and insular cortices, followed by once weekly rTMS for three weeks. Each rTMS session was administered following a cue-induced craving procedure, and participants were monitored for a total of six weeks. Those in abstinence were monitored for additional 12 weeks. The primary outcome measure was the four-week continuous quit rate (CQR) until Week 18 in the intent-totreat efficacy set, as determined by daily smoking diaries and verified by urine cotinine measures. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02126124). In the intent-to-treat analysis set (N=234), the CQR until Week 18 was 19.4% following active and 8.7% following sham rTMS (X 2 =5.655, p=0.017). Among completers (N=169), the CQR until Week 18 was 28.0% and 11.7%, respectively (X 2 =7.219, p=0.007). The reduction in cigarette consumption and craving was significantly greater in the active than the sham group as early as two weeks into treatment. This study establishes a safe treatment protocol that promotes smoking cessation by stimulating relevant brain circuits. It represents the first large multicenter RCT of brain stimulation in addiction medicine, and has led to the first clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration for rTMS as an aid in smoking cessation for adults.
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