repeated transcranial direct current stimulation (tdcs) on methamphetamine craving: a randomized, sham-controlled study

Objectives: the modulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlpfc) activity enhanced the prospects of substance use disorders rehabilitation, using noninvasive brain stimulation, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tdcs).methods: we carried out a randomized shamcontrolled clinical trial to assess the effect of repeated tdcs at dlpfc on drug craving in 30 abstinent male methamphetamine users. the participants underwent 5 sessions of 20 minutes bilateral real or sham 2 ma tdcs (anode right/ cathode left) of dlpfc. the desire for drug questionnaire (ddq) was used for assessing instant craving. the cueinduced craving was rated on a visual analog scale (vas) after the verbal induction of craving.results: the findings of this study indicated that cueinduced craving reduced significantly in tdcs related to sham (p<0.05), but tdcs did not significantly alter instant craving.discussion: the results indicated that repeated bilateral tdcs over dlpfc was not effective in reducing selfreport instant craving, but reduced selfreported craving in the craving induction condition.