The investigators assume that transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) could improve gambling disorder patients' executive-control function by adjusting the synchronization patterns and enhancing the functional connectivity of the prefrontal-ventral striatum pathway. This study intends to test the effect of tACS treatment. Three-month follow-up assessment will be conducted to test the changing of the executive-control function and its mechanism.
Gambling disorder is become a major social and public health problem in China. Executive-control dysfunction is the main symptom of behavioral addiction like gambling disorder. Previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between cognitive dysfunction and prefrontal-ventral striatum pathway. Studies have shown that abnormal phase synchronization and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) induced the impairment of cognition, and transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) could improve executive-control function by adjusting the abnormal synchronization. However, it has not been verified among gambling disorder patients. The investigators assume that tACS could improve gambling disorder patients' executive-control function by adjusting the synchronization patterns and enhancing the functional connectivity of the prefrontal-ventral striatum pathway. This study intends to test the effect of tACS treatment. Three-month follow-up assessment will be conducted to test the changing of the executive-control function and its mechanism. This study will provide a practical and theoretical basis for developing a novel treatment for gambling disorder.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
20
Three conductive electrodes are placed overhead. In the 10/20 international placement system, a 4.45 9.53 cm electrode is placed on the forehead corresponding to Fpz, Fp1 and Fp2. Two 3.18 3.81 cm electrodes are placed on the mastoid region of each side. The tACS stimulation waveform includes ramp-up and ramp-down periods of 180 and 12 s, respectively. The frequency of stimulation is 77.5Hz, and the current is 15mA.
Shanghai Mental Health Center
Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
RECRUITINGThe change of gambling behavior
Questions including monetary loss, time, frequency and interval of gambling will be answered by patients to quantify their gambling behavior.
Time frame: baseline, immediately after the intervention, two weeks after the intervention, one month after the intervention, two months after the intervention, three months after the intervention
The change of gambling craving
Gambling craving will be measured by the gambling craving Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The total score of VAS ranged from 0 to 10, in which higher scores mean a higher level of gambling craving.
Time frame: baseline, immediately after the intervention, two weeks after the intervention, one month after the intervention, two months after the intervention, three months after the intervention
The change of gambling symptom
Gambling symptom will be measured by the Gambling Symptom Assessment Scale (G-SAS). The total score of G-SAS ranged from 0 to 48, in which higher scores mean a higher level of gambling symptom.
Time frame: baseline, immediately after the intervention, two weeks after the intervention, one month after the intervention, two months after the intervention, three months after the intervention
The change of pathological gambling
Pathological gambling will be measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale adapted for Pathological Gambling (PG-YBOCS). The total score of PG-YBOCS ranged from 0 to 40, in which higher scores mean a higher level of pathological gambling.
Time frame: baseline, immediately after the intervention, two weeks after the intervention, one month after the intervention, two months after the intervention, three months after the intervention
The change of self-control
The change of self-control will be measured by the stop-signal task and balloon analog risk-taking task.
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Time frame: baseline, immediately after the intervention, two weeks after the intervention, one month after the intervention, two months after the intervention, three months after the intervention