Open AccessNeuromodulation for Addiction by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Opportunities and Challenges
Author(s) -
Shahid Bashir,
Woo-Kyoung Yoo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
annals of neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.545
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 0976-3260
pISSN - 0972-7531
DOI - 10.1159/000449485
Subject(s) - neuromodulation , addiction , transcranial direct current stimulation , neuroscience , medicine , brain stimulation , psychological intervention , deep brain stimulation , stimulation , psychology , psychiatry , disease , parkinson's disease , pathology
The field of neuromodulation encompasses a wide spectrum of interventional technologies that modify the pathological activity within the nervous system to achieve a therapeutic effect. Therapy, including transcranial direct current stimulation, has shown promising results across a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. This article reviews the state-of-the-art of neuromodulation for addiction and discusses the opportunities and challenges available for clinicians and researchers interested in advancing the neuromodulation therapy. A neuromodulation-based approach for addiction has the advantage that the effects might be immediate and selective to the dysfunction. If an alteration in the mechanisms of brain plasticity indeed represents the proximal cause for nicotine-associated cognitive decline and is a critical contributor to the early pathogenesis of addiction, novel interventions that forestall the development of symptoms might be possible.