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Prefrontal Cortex Stimulation as Treatment for Crack-cocaine Addiction

NCT01337297 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE1/PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2014-01-30

Study results available
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Summary

The use of crack-cocaine is growing at alarming rate in our country and it is absolutely worrisome the fast establishment of addiction to it. Its immediate effects, that are intense and extremely fleeting, increase dramatically the probability of this drug to be consumed again, settling quickly down the loss of control and the compulsive use, turning the effects of this drug highly addictive. Parallel to this process, brain damages are quickly established, progressing to severe impairments of frontal functions, leading to the lack of cognitive control that feeds back and aggravates the dependence, and hampers any therapeutic approach. The existing treatments have not proved to be satisfactory yet. Thus, considering that a new modality of treatment, based on the neuromodulation induced by noninvasive brain stimulation, has been useful in treating various neuropsychiatric conditions, this study will examine the potential beneficial effects of repeated transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the treatment of crack-cocaine addiction.

Conditions

  • Cocaine Addiction
  • Cocaine-related Disorder
  • Executive Dysfunction

Interventions

DEVICE

transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) will be applied by electrodes (5 x 7 cm2), with intensity of 2 mA, during 20 min, with cathode over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F3 site) and anode placed in the contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F4 site).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Harvard University

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Göttingen

    collaborator OTHER

  • Federal University of Espirito Santo

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ester M Nakamura-Palacios, MD, PhD · Federal University of Espírito Santo

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2011-06-30
Primary Completion
2012-11-30
Completion
2013-05-31

Countries

  • Brazil

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01337297 on ClinicalTrials.gov