The Exploration of Novel Cross-frequency Protocol of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in the Treatment of Methamphetamine Use Disorder: A Randomized Sham-controlled Study

Previous evidence suggests that different aspects of cognitive function are associated with activities of distinct EEG frequency bands. Gamma oscillatory has been found in clinical studies to reflect the processing of rewards in patients with drug dependence, whereas medial prefrontal theta oscillatory characterizes prefrontal response inhibition capacity to downstream reward arousal. Interestingly, impaired response inhibition or impaired evaluation of rewards in patients with drug dependence have been found to correlate with the arousal of psychological craving and the emergence of relapse. Here we aim to find causal evidence supporting these previous correlational findings by applying cross-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) in the specific frequency bands (theta-gamma) previously shown to be addiction-relevant. In a randomized control clinical trial design, we stimulate subjects with either theta-gamma or sham tACS. Electroencephalography will be collected before and after each treatment session. Besides, the scale and behavior task data will also collected before and after the treatment.