Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42362768›Full record

Trial reportMolecular psychiatry2026

Targeting cortico-striatal-amygdalar networks via theta-band frontoparietal synchronization in opioid use disorder: a randomized tACS-fMRI Trial.

Ghazaleh Soleimani, Rayus Kuplicki, Martin P Paulus, Hamed Ekhtiari

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Molecular psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03907644 (Frontoparietal Synchronization to Modulate Drug Craving in Opioid Use Disorder), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT03907644 nacompletednot on this map

Frontoparietal Synchronization to Modulate Drug Craving in Opioid Use Disorder: A Randomized Experimental Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorLaureate Institute for Brain Research, Inc.Ran2019 to 2023Enrolled60ConditionsOpioid-use DisorderArmsTranscranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ghazaleh SoleimaniDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-3418-5260
Rayus KuplickiLaureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), Tulsa, OK, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2954-6421
Martin P PaulusLaureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), Tulsa, OK, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0825-3606
Hamed EkhtiariLaureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), Tulsa, OK, USA. Hamed.Ekhtiari@utsouthwestern.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6902-8798

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Theta-band oscillation is integral to fronto-parietal connectivity in the executive control network and its top-down regulation on subcortical areas. External frontoparietal synchronization using theta-frequency transcranial alternating current (tACS) is a technology to potentially engage this network. In this pre-registered, triple-blind, sham-controlled trial (NCT03907644), we tested this intervention targeting the right frontoparietal network in people with opioid use disorder (OUD) to measure network engagement and behavioral outcomes. Sixty male participants with OUD were randomized to receive 20 min of active or sham 6 Hz tACS (HD electrodes over F4 and P4). Structural, resting-state, task-based fMRI drug cue reactivity, and repeated cue-induced craving assessments were collected immediately before and after stimulation. Pre-registered outcome measures were analyzed using time × group interaction models to examine (1) modulation of drug cue-related brain activity, (2) changes in craving, (3) alterations in functional connectivity, and (4) relationship between electric field, neural responses, and craving behavior. (1) A significant Time × Group interaction revealed decreased post-stimulation opioid cue-related activity in the active group relative to sham, involving key nodes in reward processing (ventral striatum, amygdala and ventral tegmental area) (FWE corrected α = 0.05) (2) subjective craving did not differ significantly between groups (3) Group by time generalized psychophysiological interaction analyses showed increased right frontoparietal network engagement (β = 2.63, p= 0.0308) following stimulation, and increased top-down inhibitory regulation of frontoparietal network on right ventral striatum (β = 1.99, p= 0.037) and left medial amygdala (β = 1.97, p= 0.039) (4) Electric field strength in the right frontal/parietal node predicted frontoparietal network engagement in the active group (r = 0.43, p= 0.02). Together, these findings demonstrate that theta-band frontoparietal tACS can modulate activity and task-dependent coupling within cortical-subcortical circuits in OUD, supporting network-targeted neuromodulation as a potential intervention for addiction.

Indexed as

Opioid-Related DisordersAdultAmygdalaBrainCorpus StriatumCravingCuesFrontal LobeHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNerve NetNeural PathwaysParietal LobeTheta RhythmTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation

Identifiers

PMID42362768
PMCPMC13569433

What Socratic holds

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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.