Multiple Sessions of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Reduced Craving and Relapses for Alcohol Use: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial in Alcohol Use Disorder.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, has been studied as an adjunctive therapeutic agent for alcohol dependence.

In a 3-months follow-up after intervention, 72.2% of sham-tDCS group relapsed to the alcohol use whereas 72.7% of tDCS group were abstinent.

Multiple sessions of bilateral prefrontal tDCS were well tolerated with no significant adverse events. Thus, extended repetitive bilateral tDCS over the dlPFC is a promising adjunctive clinical tool that could be used to reduce alcohol craving and relapses and facilitate alcoholism cessation.

Source: Klauss, J., Anders, Q. S., Felippe, L. V., Nitsche, M. A., & Nakamura-Palacios, E. M. (2018). Multiple Sessions of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Reduced Craving and Relapses for Alcohol Use: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial in Alcohol Use Disorder. Frontiers in pharmacology, 9, 716. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2018.00716