ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2024
Trend-analysis reveals real and placebo rtms effects on addiction craving: a case-control observational study.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-stroke spasticity: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Pooled it
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation in cocaine use disorder and the risk of seizure: a review of the evidence.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Off-label and investigational drugs in the treatment of gambling disorder: a critical review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- The Role of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Treating Alcohol Use Disorder: Neural Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Future Directions.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and aims: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can be a potential therapeutic tool for the treatment of addiction, thanks to its ability to non-invasively modulate cortical excitability. In the present study, we investigated the short- and the long-term rTMS effects on craving behaviour and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of individuals suffering from gambling and cocaine use disorder. Methods: 42 individuals (age: 40.7 ± 9.5 years; 40 M) underwent an initial screening testing craving behaviour, by means of visual analogue scales, and psychopathological symptoms, by means of Symptom Checklist-90-R. Participants were subsequently assigned to a real or sham (placebo) rTMS treatment of 2 weeks delivered over the left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex. To assess the short- and long-term effects of rTMS, participants were evaluated again after 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks. Results: After an initial similar trend in the craving behaviour of the two groups, our trend analysis showed a long-lasting decrease (until 24 weeks) in the real-rTMS group, following a linear trend (p<0.001); whereas the sham-rTMS group progressively returned to the initial level after about 12 weeks, following a quadratic trend (p<0.001). In addition, we observed moderate-to-strong correlations (0.4<rho<1) showing that placebo effects of rTMS were stronger in individuals showing higher level of psychopathological symptoms for the first 4 weeks. Conclusions: Our results supported a long-term rTMS efficacy for cocaine and gambling craving, for which evidence was still lacking, and the correlation of short-lasting placebo effects and psychopathological symptoms.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.