“School of Cognitive Sciences”
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| Paper IPM / Cognitive Sciences / 18118 |
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| Abstract: | |||||
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Background:
Individuals with substance use disorder (iSUD) often show diminished motivation toward seeking and adhering to treatment resulting in a higher relapse rate. This randomized, placebo-controlled study assessed the impact of up- and downregulation of the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) via transcranial direct current electrical stimulation (tDCS) on treatment motivation, cravings for drug and cognitive emotion regulation in iSUD.
Methods:
Thirty male iSUDs were randomly assigned to the experimental (n=15) or placebo (n=15) groups. The experimental group underwent 15 sessions of anodal left and cathodal right dlPFC stimulation (2 mA, 20 minutes), while the placebo group received sham stimulation over the same period. Assessments of readiness, eagerness, motivation for treatment, drug craving, and cognitive emotion regulation were conducted pre-and post-intervention. Data was analyzed using a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) on post-intervention outcome measures with group (active vs sham) as the fixed factor and pre-intervention measures as covariates.
Results:
Simultaneous upregulation and downregulation of the left and right dlPFC significantly boosted motivation for change and treatment in individuals with iSUD. Specifically, the intervention improved participants' recognition of issues related to their substance use and reduced ambivalence about it. Additionally, active tDCS, but not sham tDCS, significantly reduced craving ratings for drugs and enhanced adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in iSUD. Improved adaptive cognitive-emotional regulation was significantly correlated with increased treatment motivation, specifically in recognition (r=0.559, p<0.001) and pacing (r=0.681, p<0.001). Furthermore, Pearsonâ??s correlational analysis indicated that enhanced adaptive regulation strategies and treatment motivation were significantly associated with reduced craving (radaptive=-0.568, p<0.001; rrecognition=-0.323, p=0.042; rstepping=-0.413, p=0.023).
Conclusions:
Modulation of the prefrontal-subcortical network via dlPFC tDCS can help iSUD to improve adaptive emotion regulation strategies thereby boosting motivation for treatment-seeking.
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