[Neuromodulation methods applied to tobacco use disorder].

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Public Health
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Smoking is a significant global health issue with limited effective treatments.
• Neuromodulation offers potential alternative therapies for smoking cessation.
• Current therapies for smoking cessation have variable success rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the efficacy and safety of neuromodulation techniques for smoking cessation.
• To evaluate repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and neurofeedback.
• To identify the need for further clinical trials in this field.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on neuromodulation techniques for smoking cessation.
• Analysis of studies involving rTMS, tDCS, and neurofeedback.
• Assessment of patient outcomes, tolerance, and influencing factors.

Main Results:

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) shows potential in reducing craving and consumption, but effects may be temporary.
• Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) results are inconsistent, depending on session number, motivation, and combined treatments.
• Neurofeedback demonstrates encouraging preliminary results for self-regulation of brain activity, requiring further investigation.

Conclusions:

• Neuromodulation techniques are generally safe and potentially effective for smoking cessation.
• Larger, standardized clinical trials are necessary to establish the definitive role of these methods.
• Further research is crucial to optimize neuromodulation protocols for long-term smoking cessation success.