NCT01710410

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in a Smoking Cessation Trial

Pilot Study of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as a Smoking Cessation Treatment for Nicotine Dependent Smokers

• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 0 (actual)
• Sponsor: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 19 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) plus nicotine patch as a viable smoking cessation program for nicotine dependent smokers.

Detailed description

BACKGROUND: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of non-invasive brain stimulation that involves the application of brief weak electric current to the scalp. tDCS may induce neuroplasticity, thereby engaging some of the same systems that figure prominently in the pathological neuroplasticity caused by addictive drugs. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether tDCS delivered along with nicotine patch reliably increases a) quit rates, b) duration of abstinence, and c) percentage of participants abstinent at follow-up. METHOD: Active (20min; 2mA) and sham (30sec; 2mA) stimulation will be applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in both cerebral hemispheres. HYPOTHESES: 1. Active tDCS (20-min; 2 mA) will increase abstinence in a standard smoking cessation protocol relative to a sham procedure. 2. The benefits of active left anodal stimulation (anode-left/cathode-right) to the DLPFC will be greater than of active tDCS in the reverse configuration (cathode-left/anode-right).

Conditions

• Nicotine Dependence

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	active transcranial Direct Current Stimulation	Brief (20-min) application of weak electric current (e.g., 2 mA) to the scalp.
DEVICE	sham transcranial Direct Current Stimulation	Brief (30-sec) application of weak electric current (e.g., 2mA) to the scalp.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-10-01
• Primary completion: 2016-10-01
• Completion: 2016-10-01
• First posted: 2012-10-19
• Last updated: 2016-06-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada