Cerebellar Involvement in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

Part of paid clinical trials in Baltimore, Maryland.

Sponsor
Johns Hopkins University
Study ID
NCT05732207
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
25 Years - 55 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation — PROCEDURE
    TDCS is a safe and non-invasive technique for modulating cortical excitability and behavior. TDCS, delivered via surface electrodes, induces an intracerebral current flow sufficient to achieve changes in cortical excitability. Anodal stimulation up-regulates cortical excitability, while cathodal stimulation decreases excitability.

Study Details

The goal of this observational and interventional study is to better understand the involvement of the cerebellum in the brain reward system in persons with alcohol use disorder (AUD). The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. What is the nature of cerebellar input to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brain reward system, and how is it perturbed in AUD? 2. What is the relationship between measures of cerebellar integrity and magnitude of reward activation to alcohol-related cues in cerebellar, VTA and other brain reward structures? 3. What is the therapeutic potential of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for modulating alcohol cue reactivity, associated alcohol craving, and cerebellar - VTA functional connectivity in the brain reward system? Persons with AUD will be compared with healthy control participants.

Key Dates

Start date
Oct 12, 2023
Status verified
May 2026
Primary completion
Apr 30, 2027
Completion
Sep 30, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
122 participants (estimated)
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

  • Experimental: Cathodal cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (ctDCS)
    For ctDCS, the cathodal (-) electrode will be positioned over the right cerebellum 1 cm below and 3 cm lateral to the inion, and the anodal (+) electrode will be placed on the contralateral supraorbital area (FP2 EEG location).
  • Experimental: Anodal cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS)
    For atDCS, anode/cathode locations are reversed from those of ctDCS..
  • Sham Comparator: Sham cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (stDCS)
    For stDCS, the electrodes will be configured randomly as atDCS 50% of the time, and as ctDCS 50% of the time.

Primary Outcome Measure

Craving for alcohol during the cue reactivity task as assessed by a rating scale [ Time Frame: 28 minutes ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMaryland21205
John Desmond, Ph.D.

Find similar trials in Baltimore, MD

By condition
Substance use disorder
By specialty
Behavioral healthAddiction medicine
By research site
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine· Baltimore, MD

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