title: Bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex changes the drug-cued reactivity in the anterior cingulate cortex of crack-cocaine addicts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients addicted to crack-cocaine routinely have difficulty sustaining treatment, which could be related to dysfunctional cerebral activity that occurs in addiction.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the indirect electrophysiological effects of single transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cocaine-addicted brains.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients received either left cathodal/right anodal or sham stimulation over the DLPFC. The region of interest was the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during the N2 time window (200-350 ms). Event-related potentials in the ACC were measured during visual presentation of crack-related cues or neutral cues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) indicated that exposure to crack-related images led to increased activity in the ACC in the sham group, while the tDCS group showed decreased ACC activity after visualization of drug cues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prefrontal tDCS specifically modulated the ACC response during exposure to visual drug cues in crack-cocaine users.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Sciences and Neuropsychopharmacology, Program of Post-Graduation in Physiological Sciences, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil. Electronic address: catarineconti@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Catarine Lima
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Sciences and Neuropsychopharmacology, Program of Post-Graduation in Physiological Sciences, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ester Miyuki
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Nakamura-Palacios
mesh_terms: D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016578:Crack Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003463:Cues; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D016578:Crack Cocaine
keywords: Anterior cingulate cortex; Crack-cocaine addiction; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Event-related potential; tDCS