A Study of the Effectiveness of Direct Current Stimulation for Alcohol Use Disorders

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Bilateral Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex for Alcohol Use Disorders: A Randomised, Sham-controlled Clinical Trial

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive, safe and easy-to-operate neuro-electrophysiological technique, which becoming an emerging therapeutic option for many mental disorders.It can modulate cortical excitability of target brain region, neuron plasticity and brain connections. Previous studies suggest that tDCS could reduce cue-induced craving in drug addiction.

Objective:In this study, the investigators employed real and sham tDCS of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to test the effect of whether it could reduce cue-induced craving, influence cognitive function in alcoholics and explore its underlying mechanism with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods: The investigators perform a randomized sham-controlled study in which 40 inpatient alcoholics will be randomized to receive 10 sessions of 20min sham or 1.5mA tDCS to the bilateral DLPFC (anodal right/cathodal left). The neuroimaging data, craving after exposed to alcohol-associated cues and the cognition task at baseline and after stimulation will be collected.

The investigators hypothesized that tDCS stimulating the DLPFC decreases cue-induced craving and improves cognition, which might be associated with the functional connectivity alterations.

Inclusion Criteria:(1)Clinical diagnosis of severe AUD defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth edition (DSM-5); (2)Must be able to look and hear; (3) Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised (CIWA-Ar) score less than 10.

Exclusion Criteria:(1) Clinical diagnosis of substance use disorder other than an alcohol or nicotine use disorder defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth edition (DSM-5)；(2) Severe brain injury, stroke, seizure, epilepsy or other major neurological diseases ; (3) Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression or other Axis I disorder of DSM-V criteria;(4)any contraindication for fMRI scanning.