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Relapse Prevention in Alcohol Dependency by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Supported Cue Exposure Therapy

NCT02228486 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 48

Last updated 2014-08-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Relapse is a major risk in substance abuse disorders, which is closely related to craving for a substance, describing a strong urge for consumption. Cue-exposure therapy is an intervention aiming at the reduction of perceived craving by repeated confrontation. It is based on the assumption that craving drops after repeated exposure without the reinforcing experience elicited by consumption. In the present study, patients with alcohol dependency take part in nine cue-exposure training sessions. Each session consists of mood induction reflecting a high risk situation with subsequent in vivo confrontation with one's preferred alcoholic beverage followed by the training of coping strategies. During the cue-exposure, patients focus on perceiving automatic responses to alcohol-related cues. We hypothesize that especially patients exhibiting initially high reactions to such cues should profit from this intervention the most. The reactions are measured on a subjective (craving) and physiological level (hemodynamics of the prefrontal cortex, heart rate variability, electrodermal activity). Furthermore, we want to strengthen the expected training effects during the cue-exposure by an activating transcranial direct current stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which has been shown to be hypoactive in substance abuse disorders. We investigate how the cue-exposure training affects the processing of alcoholic cues (cue-reactivity) and its relation to clinical symptoms of alcohol dependency.

Conditions

  • Alcohol Dependency

Interventions

DEVICE

tDCS

2 mA (verum group) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F3, anodal), 15 min; 10 seconds ramp in verum and sham group (see also above)

BEHAVIORAL

Cue Exposure Therapy

5 weeks (9 sessions) of cue-exposure therapy with preferred alcoholic beverage (see also above)

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University Hospital Tuebingen

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ann-Christine Ehlis, PhD · University Hospital Tuebingen

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2014-08-31
Primary Completion
2016-08-31
Completion
2016-08-31

Countries

  • Germany

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 NCT02228486 on ClinicalTrials.gov