Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society
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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a promising treatment for suicidality, but it is underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Our prior findings indicated that frontostriatal functional connectivity correlates with the severity of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In this secondary analysis of data from an open label trial, we evaluated whether changes in frontostriatal functional connectivity would accompany suicidality reductions following TMS. We also explored the relationship between frontostriatal connectivity change and underlying white matter (WM) organization. ⋯ Targeted reduction of fronto-striatal connectivity with TMS may be a promising treatment for suicidality. Future research can build on this multimodal approach to advance individualized stimulation approaches in high-risk patients.
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Individuals with pedophilic disorder (PD) experience personal and interpersonal difficulties and are at risk of sexually offending against children. As such, innovative and empirically validated treatments are needed. Recent studies have indicated that men who have sexually offended against children (SOC) with PD display an automatic attention bias for child-related stimuli as well as reduced activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), a brain area involved in cognitive control, including control over sexual arousal. In this preregistered pilot study, we are the first to investigate whether acutely increasing prefrontal activity could reduce the putative pedophilic attention bias. ⋯ These results suggest enhanced cognitive control in response to salient stimuli during active tDCS. Thus, to assist future studies on neuromodulation in PD, we provide suggestions for design improvement.