Role of Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on drug use craving and addictive behaviors: Review Study

Introduction & Objective: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an electro physiologic brain stimulation and integration technique that can change the cortical excitability of the target area in the brain and modulate the nervous and muscular ductility. Addiction is associated with dysfunction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and altered cerebral oscillations. According to reports, Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of DLPFC is a potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of addiction which can reduce drug use urge and improve cognitive function in addicted individuals. The present study is an attempt to give an overview of the role of Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on drug use craving and addictive behaviors. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted based on relative literature in English databases such as PubMed, Google scholars, Elsevier, MEDLINE, science direct (2015 – 2018). The inclusion criteria included addiction or drug use craving, the intervention was performed by applying rTMS, dTMS, and TMS, and the studies were of clinical trial type. Findings: Addiction has a high prevalence in the world and many therapies have been tried so far. Many of the relevant articles actually supported the effects of rTMS and TMS, especially in the short run. Discussion: according to the reviewed literature and considering high prevalence of addiction and various treatment methods proposed for this mental illness, attempts were made to evaluate rTMS as a non-invasive treatment technique and its effectiveness was supported