Rewiring the Addicted Brain: Circuits-Based Treatment for Addiction
- 1Novella Fronda Foundation, Human Science and Brain Research Piazza Castello, 16-35141 Padua, Italy
- 2Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA
- 3Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA
- 4Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA
- Correspondence: antonello.bonci{at}nih.gov
Abstract
The advent of the noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technique has paved the way for neural circuit–based treatments for addiction. Recently, evidence from both preclinical and clinical studies has evaluated the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a safe and cost-effective therapeutic tool for substance use disorders (SUDs). Indeed, repetitive TMS impacts on neural activity inducing short- and long-term effects involving neuroplasticity mechanisms locally within the target area of stimulation and the network level throughout the brain. Here, we provide an integrated view of evidence highlighting the mechanisms of TMS-induced effects on modulating the maladaptive brain circuitry of addiction. We then review the preclinical and clinical findings suggesting rTMS as an effective interventional tool for the treatment of SUDs.
- © 2018 Madeo and Bonci; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
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