Brain stimulation may boost alcohol abstinence
NCT ID NCT03287154
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tested whether a gentle brain stimulation technique called tDCS could help people with alcohol disorder stay sober. 90 participants who had already stopped drinking received either real or fake tDCS sessions. Researchers then checked if the real stimulation helped them remain abstinent for 3 months.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a non-drug way to help people with alcohol disorder maintain abstinence and reduce relapse.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, completed study with no phase designation. The results may not be strong enough to change practice, and tDCS effects can vary widely between individuals.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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90 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Feb 2017
- Finished
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Aug 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * patient aged from 18 to 70 years old * patient free, without guardianship * absence of epileptic pathology * patient affiliated to the french health security or benefiting through a third party * signed informed consent after having received a clear and honest information on the study. * patient with a disorder linked to the use of alcohol (define by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) classification) clinically evaluated. * patient requesting for an alcohol withdrawal * patient able to read and write Exclusion Criteria: * patient not affiliated to the french health security or not benefiting through a third party * woman in reproductive capacity without effective contraception (hormonal/mechanical: per os, injectable, transcutaneous, implantable, intra-uterine device or chirurgical: tubal ligation, hysterectomy, total ovariectomy) or breastfeeding * patient hospitalized under duress * patient with guardianship * somatic complications during the alcohol withdrawal phase * current psychiatric decompensation (mood disorder, suicide risk, psychotic disorders). * patient under benzodiazepines treatment * patient with scalp cutaneous lesion * history of cranial traumatism * patient with intra-cerebral metallic object * patient with a pacemaker * epileptic pathology * patient in emergency condition or unable to give personally her/his consent * another dependence other than alcohol or tobacco * mental illness syndrome and Korsakoff
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
Poitiers, France
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Centre Hospitalier Nord-Deux-Sèvres
Thouars, France
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