Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Effects on Nicotine Craving

March 30, 2020 updated by: Medical University of South Carolina
The proposed study will measure the change of cortical excitability during nicotine craving and examine the effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on nicotine craving and cue-reactivity among adult regular smokers.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This pilot protocol proposes to test and further develop TMS for the purpose of studying brain function in nicotine users.

Specific Primary Aims include:

Aim # 1. To test change of cortical excitability during nicotine craving in cigarette smokers and explore the potential use of TMS in cigarette smokers.

Aim # 2. Given the role of the prefrontal cortex (and connected regions) in craving, we will examine whether modulating prefrontal activity through rTMS will impact measures of craving and the reinforcing effects of nicotine.

Design:

The study was a randomized, blind, sham-controlled crossover study in which participants will involve two study visits. Participants will have an initial assessment about tobacco use habits and craving patterns. Participant will look at images related to and not related to cigarette smoking.

Participants will receive two different types of brain stimulation with repetitive TMS (10 Hz): sham rTMS and active rTMS over prefrontal cortex. Craving assessments will be performed before and after each stimulus experiment.

Participants will be measured cortical excitability with TMS before and after each stimulus experiment.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

19

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
        • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Right handed males and females, between the ages of 18 and 50
  • Daily smokers who smoke at least 10 cigarettes per day for at least past 1 year
  • Mentally capable of reading, writing, giving consent, following instructions

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of seizures
  • taking medications that lower seizure threshold
  • implanted metal devices (e.g., pacemakers, metal plates, wires)
  • pregnant
  • history of brain surgery or history of loss of consciousness >15 minutes
  • any unstable major axis I psychiatric disorder in the past month (e.g. psychotic disorders)
  • Current substance use disorders other than nicotine and caffeine use, in the past 30 days
  • Any medication (e.g., propranolol) or unstable medical condition that may interfere with psychophysiological (e.g., heart rate) monitoring

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive (and relatively painless) brain stimulation technology that can focally stimulate the brain of an awake individual.The brain stimulation techniques could theoretically improve the efficacy of smoking cessation. Treatment was standardized at 100% magnetic field intensity relative to the participant's resting MT, at 10 pulses per second (10 Hz) for 5 seconds, with an intertrain interval of 10 seconds. Treatment session lasted for 15 minutes with 3000 pulses.
Device: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Neuronetics)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive brain stimulation that can focally stimulate the brain of an awake individual. A TMS pulse focally stimulates the cortex by depolarizing superficial neurons which induces electrical currents in the brain.
Other Names:
  • Neuronetics® Model 3600
Device: Sham Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
The electrical current of the sham system is titrated to a level matching participants' ratings of active TMS.The sham-TMS scalp discomfort will be matched to that of active TMS.
Other Names:
  • Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Device
Sham Comparator: Sham Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Sham-TMS procedures: After rMT determination and DLPFC cortex localization, participants were fitted with two electrodes on the scalp just below the hairline. Electrodes were connected to an Epix VT® Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Device (Empi; St. Paul, MN, USA)
Device: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Neuronetics)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive brain stimulation that can focally stimulate the brain of an awake individual. A TMS pulse focally stimulates the cortex by depolarizing superficial neurons which induces electrical currents in the brain.
Other Names:
  • Neuronetics® Model 3600
Device: Sham Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
The electrical current of the sham system is titrated to a level matching participants' ratings of active TMS.The sham-TMS scalp discomfort will be matched to that of active TMS.
Other Names:
  • Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Device

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
the Change From Baseline in Cue Nicotine Craving Rating Score
Time Frame: Before rMTS (baseline) and after rTMS experiment (on average 15 minutes)
Seventy highly palatable scenic images, forty neutral control images) and forty cigarette smoking cue images were presented in four blocks. Immediately after viewing each block of cue images, participants completed a 10 question computerized visual analog scale (CVAS) designed to assess craving. Each question is followed by a CVAS (range 0 - 100) 0 means least amount of craving and 100 means the maximum amount of craving. After 15 minutes of real or sham rTMS, participants viewed the images again and rated their cravings. At each visit, participants were blind to the rTMS condition (real or sham) and the order was randomized.
Before rMTS (baseline) and after rTMS experiment (on average 15 minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
the Change From Baseline in Resting Motor Threshold
Time Frame: 20 minutes before (baseline) and 20 minutes after rTMS experiment
Resting Motor Threshold (RMT) on a scale from 0-100, with 100 being most power given to enact a motor response
20 minutes before (baseline) and 20 minutes after rTMS experiment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 7, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 20, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

September 21, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 1, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 30, 2020

Last Verified

March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Brain Stimulation Lab / MUSC

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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