Abstract
Treatments for addiction are of limited effectivity and characterized by high relapse rates, requiring the development of novel pathophysiology-based treatment approaches. One such option is to use neuromodulation. Neuromodulation can be defined as the use of techniques to focally induce directed neuroplasticity. Both nonsurgical and surgical neuromodulation have been experimentally used for the suppression of craving. Noninvasive techniques used include transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial electrical stimulation, and neurofeedback. Surgical neuromodulation techniques involve lesioning and electrical stimulation via implanted electrodes. Most studies using noninvasive stimulation have investigated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as the target. The two brain areas most commonly used as targets for lesioning are the anterior cingulate and nucleus accumbens. For implanted electrodes the nucleus accumbens and subthalamic nucleus have been investigated. The targets used can be linked to brain circuits involved in craving or withdrawal. For noninvasive neuromodulation no long-term studies have been performed and for implanted electrodes only small case series have been reported. Thus even if results seem to be promising, they still have to be considered preliminary.