Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on the aggressive behavior in methamphetamine addicts

Jingzhen He; Rufang Wang; Jiaoyang Li; Xiaoyu Jiang; Changwei Zhou; Jun Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.038

Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on the aggressive behavior in methamphetamine addicts

J Psychiatr Res. 2023 Aug:164:364-371. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.038. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

Authors

Jingzhen He¹, Rufang Wang², Jiaoyang Li¹, Xiaoyu Jiang³, Changwei Zhou⁴, Jun Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Management, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China.
² College of Basic Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: rufwang@cdutcm.edu.cn.
³ Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Drug Rehabilitation Center, Ziyang, China.
⁵ Drug Rehabilitation Administration of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China.

PMID: 37406500
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.038

Abstract

Aggressive behavior of drug addicts threatens human security and social stability, and Methamphetamine (MA) addicts show especially aggressive behavior. Researches showed that the decreased activity of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is closely related to violence and aggression, and continuous transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on DLPFC can increase the activity of this position. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of tDCS on DLPFC for the aggressive behavior of MA addicts. Ninety MA addicts were recruited and randomly divided into anodal tDCS group, cathode tDCS group and sham tDCS group (current intensity was set as 2 mA, 2 mA and 0 mA, respectively). The tDCS intervention was conducted twice a day for five consecutive days. Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) was used to measure the proactive aggressiveness and reactive aggressiveness of MA addicts at different time points (Pretest, Day 1, and Day 5). At the same time, we also recruited 30 healthy adult males as healthy controls, and measured their aggressiveness through TAP for comparative analysis. The results showed that the aggressiveness of MA addicts was significantly higher than that of healthy controls. The aggressiveness of MA addicts was effectively reduced by the anode intervention of tDCS on the left DLPFC, especially when they were subjected to high-intensity provocation, the 2-way interaction between time and tDCS group was statistically significant (F_4,164 = 2.939, P = 0.022, η_p² = 0.067). This study can provide a reference for how to correct the aggressive behavior of MA addicts.

Keywords: Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Methamphetamine addicts; Proactive aggressiveness; Reactive aggressiveness; Transcranial direct current stimulation.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aggression
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
Double-Blind Method
Humans
Male
Prefrontal Cortex / physiology
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation* / methods
Violence