Transcranial direct current stimulation of the frontal-parietal-temporal area attenuates smoking behavior

Many brain regions are involved in smoking addiction (e.g. insula, ventral tegmental area, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus), and the manipulation of the activity of these brain regions can show a modification of smoking behavior. Low current transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive way to manipulate cortical excitability, and thus brain function and associated behaviors. In this study, we examined the effects of inhibiting the frontal-parietal-temporal association area (FPT) on attention bias to smoking-related cues and smoking behavior in tobacco users. This inhibition is induced by cathodal tDCS stimulation. We tested three stimulation conditions: 1) bilateral cathodal over both sides of FPT; 2) cathodal over right FPT; and 3) sham-tDCS. Visual attention bias to smoking-related cues was evaluated using an eye tracking system. The measurement for smoking behavior was the number of daily cigarettes consumed before and after tDCS treatment. We found that, after bilateral cathodal stimulation of the FPT area, while the attention to smoking-related cues showed a decreased trend, the effects were not significantly different from sham stimulation. The daily cigarette consumption was reduced to a significant level. These effects were not seen under single cathodal tDCS or sham-tDCS. Our results show that low current tDCS of FPT area attenuates smoking cue-related attention and smoking behavior. This non-invasive brain stimulation technique, targeted at FPT areas, might be a promising method for treating smoking behavior.