Transdiagnostic Effects of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Cue Reactivity

Abstract

This is the first sham-controlled investigation to demonstrate, in two populations, that VMPFC cTBS can attenuate neural reactivity to drug and alcohol cues in frontostriatal circuits. These results provide an empirical foundation for future clinical trials that may evaluate the efficacy, durability, and clinical implications of VMPFC cTBS to treat addictions.

Neural Architecture Influences Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation–Induced Functional Change: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Cue‐Reactivity Modulation in Alcohol Users

“…In a sham‐controlled neuroimaging study we demonstrated that continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to the left frontal pole decreased functional connectivity between the MPFC and dorsal striatum when alcohol users were viewing alcohol vs. nonalcoholic beverage cues . Here we tested (and confirmed) the hypothesis that TBS‐associated change in frontal‐striatal connectivity is affected by multiple structural features of the brain, including the distance from the scalp location of the TMS coil to the cortex, the gray matter volume in the vicinity of the coil, and the white matter fiber tract integrity from the coil location to the striatum.…”

“…Generalized Psychophysiological Interaction was performed to evaluate task‐based functional connectivity with the MPFC during the alcohol cue‐reactivity tasks (see Kearney‐Ramos et al . for more detail). Diffusion‐weighted images were first evaluated for artifacts and excessive head motion.…”

“…Functional MRI data were preprocessed using standard parameters (motion correction, spatial alignment, segmentation, normalization; SPM12 (Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, London, UK); Matlab 7.14 (MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA)). Generalized Psychophysiological Interaction was performed to evaluate taskbased functional connectivity with the MPFC during the alcohol cue-reactivity tasks (see Kearney-Ramos et al for more detail 5 ). Diffusion-weighted images were first evaluated for artifacts and excessive head motion.…”

rTMS-Induced Changes in Glutamatergic and Dopaminergic Systems: Relevance to Cocaine and Methamphetamine Use Disorders

“…This lack of consistency is common in rTMS research as there has not yet been a systematic approach to elucidate which parameters best achieve specific goals. Nonetheless, there is a general consensus on the target of stimulation: with the aim of modulating the mesocorticolimbic system, the majority of studies target the DLPFC, with only a few exceptions that stimulate the mPFC (Hanlon et al, 2015(Hanlon et al, , 2017Kearney-Ramos et al, 2018, 2019). In addition, most studies tend to stimulate only one side of the brain, usually the left, although a sham-controlled study comparing right-and left-side stimulations did not show a significant effect of laterality (Liu et al, 2017).…”

A Roadmap for Integrating Neuroscience Into Addiction Treatment: A Consensus of the Neuroscience Interest Group of the International Society of Addiction Medicine

“…There are studies targeting other areas than the DLPFC within the frontal cortex, such as inferior frontal gyrus, ventromedial prefrontal, or middle frontal cortices. As an example, Kearney-Ramos et al demonstrated that applying continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) as a type of TMS to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex could attenuate the cuerelated functional connectivity (215). In another study, Ceccanti et al found out that deep TMS (dTMS) on the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) decreased craving and alcohol intake in people with alcohol use disorder.…”