This investigation will preliminarily determine if a course of high-frequency rTMS applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, will reduce behavioral craving, and fMRI cue-reactivity in treatment-seeking cannabis use disordered participants.
The overarching goal of this proposal is to investigate if a course of excitatory DLPFC rTMS results in reduced cannabis behavioral craving in treatment-seeking individuals with CUD (Aim1). Additionally, the investigators seek to explore the mechanistic underpinnings of any observed effect, by collecting functional magnetic resonance imaging data during cannabis cue administration before and after the treatment course (Aim 2). These aims will be addressed through a nine-week, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled study in which 72 treatment-seeking cannabis use disordered participants (36/group) will be given 20 sessions of either Active or Sham excitatory rTMS applied to the DLPFC. rTMS will be delivered over five weeks (2 sessions each day, two days each week). rTMS will be applied in conjunction with a validated three-session Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) behavioral intervention.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
72
rTMS will be delivered via a MagPro double blinded rTMS Research System (MagVenture, Denmark) with a Cool-B65 Butterfly Coil (a combined active and sham coil). We will use a standard resting motor threshold (rMT) determination to determine the TMS dose. Study-treatment will be delivered at 120% rMT. Each active rTMS study-treatment will consist of a total of 4000 pulses of 10Hz stimulation (5s-on,10s-off). Study-treatments will be delivered at the EEG coordinate for F3 (which approximates the left DLPFC), and will be found using the Beam-F3 method.
Sham sessions will be delivered using an electronic sham system consisting of a coil that mimics the appearance and sound of rTMS, combined with a TENS device which produces a small electric shock mimicking the feeling of active rTMS. This type of sham has been demonstrated to be indistinguishable from active rTMS.
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California, United States
Marijuana Craving Questionnaire-Short Form Score as a Measure of Behavioral Craving
The investigators hypothesize that as compared to those participants receiving sham rTMS, those participants receiving active rTMS will have a reduced level of behavioral cannabis craving prior to their final rTMS session as compared to prior to their first rTMS session. The investigators will measure behavioral cannabis craving using the marijuana craving questionnaire. Score range: 12 to 84, higher scores represent more craving.
Time frame: Baseline (pre) and Week-5 (post)
Cue Reactivity
The investigators hypothesize that as compared to those participants receiving sham rTMS, those participants receiving active rTMS will have a reduced BOLD response in reward structures (dorsal striatum, ventral striatum, and anterior consulate cortex) during a validated cue-reactivity fMRI paradigm prior to their final rTMS session as compared to prior to their first rTMS session (change score). The following beta scores represent the change score (post-pre) in scans in the drug stimuli minus neutral stimuli subtraction map. Generally, more activation (a positive score) represents more cannabis image cue-reactivity, and the reported range represents standard units as output in the fMRI.
Time frame: Baseline (pre) and Week-5 (post)
Abstinence
Number of weeks (out of a total of 4 possible), in the follow-up period, where participants were abstinent from cannabis. Missing data was conservatively assumed to be non-abstinant. More weeks of abstinence is more favourable
Time frame: 4-weeks
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