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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Treatment of Substance Use Disorder

Key facts

Who runs it
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Where
New York, United StatesSee the site
Trial code
Status
Recruiting
People taking part
240 people, planned
Started
25 Feb 2026
Expected to end
Feb 2030
Type of study
Interventional, 4 groupsOne group gets a sham (pretend) treatment, for comparison.
Treatments tested
  • Transcranial Direct Current Stimulator (tDCS)
  • Cognitive Reappraisal Training
Record updated
13 October 2026

Who can take part

Age
18 years to 60 years
Sex
Women and men
Healthy volunteers
Cannot take part

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 10 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • Ability to understand and give informed consent
  • Men and women 18-60 years of age
  • For women of childbearing potential, current use of a medically acceptable form of birth control
  • DSM-5 diagnosis of stimulant use disorder with crack/cocaine as the drug of choice or opioid use disorder

Who cannot take part

  • Metal implants or devices that may be impacted by the electrical stimulation and additional MR contraindications
  • Lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, bipolar I disorder, or delusional disorder as confirmed by the MINI or autism spectrum disorder as confirmed by medical history at the screening visit
  • History of neurological or developmental disease of central origin including stroke, brain tumor or seizures, encompassing those symptoms associated with periods of drug withdrawal or abstinence
  • Current clinically significant or unstable medical conditions, including metabolic, endocrinological, oncological or autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases common in people with substance use disorders including Hepatitis B and C or HIV/AIDS; use of medications deemed exclusionary by the study team; or any laboratory value outside the reference range that the senior investigator team considers to be of clinical relevance
  • Head trauma with loss of consciousness (>30 min)
  • Women of childbearing potential must use a medically acceptable birth control method during the study and will be asked to take a pregnancy urine test before exposure to tDCS (or MRI)

Check if you might fit

Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.

  • Are you between 18 and 60 years old?

Where in United States

  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew York, United StatesContact: Clinical Research CoordinatorTaking people

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

The researchers will test whether cognitively enhanced transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can reduce craving in inpatients with cocaine use disorder or opioid use disorder. Neuroimaging before and after stimulation will establish the neural correlates of recovery and allow predictions of outcomes, which will be assessed throughout the study and one month after its completion. Results could pave the way towards development of a new self-administered intervention to reduce craving when it is needed the most, enhancing recovery real-time and in the natural environment in people with cocaine addiction as generalizable to other drugs of abuse and other disorders of self-control.

The 4 groups in the trial

  • Active tDCS with Cognitive Reappraisal (CR)Treatment being tested

    Active Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) (Soterix Medical mini-CT tDCS stimulator), and Cognitive Reappraisal (CR)

    Treatment: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulator (tDCS) and Cognitive Reappraisal Training

  • Active tDCSTreatment being tested

    Active Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), (Soterix Medical mini-CT tDCS stimulator)

    Treatment: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulator (tDCS)

  • Sham tDCSSham treatment, for comparison

    Sham (Placebo) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), (Soterix Medical mini-CT tDCS stimulator)

    Treatment: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulator (tDCS)

  • Sham tDCS with Cognitive Reappraisal (CR)Treatment being tested

    Sham (Placebo) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) (Soterix Medical mini-CT tDCS stimulator), and Cognitive Reappraisal (CR)

    Treatment: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulator (tDCS) and Cognitive Reappraisal Training

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
Cognitively-enhanced tDCS of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex to Reduce Craving in Cocaine Addiction
Fit questions
Built from NCT07318480, who can take part
Record updated
13 October 2026