Publications by authors named "Sarah C Herremans"

There is growing interest in non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) as a novel treatment option for substance-use disorders (SUDs). Recent momentum stems from a foundation of preclinical neuroscience demonstrating links between neural circuits and drug consuming behavior, as well as recent FDA-approval of NIBS treatments for mental health disorders that share overlapping pathology with SUDs. As with any emerging field, enthusiasm must be tempered by reason; lessons learned from the past should be prudently applied to future therapies.

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The application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to prevent relapse in alcohol addiction is currently being evaluated. However, how rTMS may influence the related brain processes is far from clear. Here we wanted to investigate whether baseline grey matter volume (GMV) can predict relapse and whether 15 accelerated high-frequency (HF)- rTMS sessions may influence GMV in areas related to relapse.

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Nowadays, sports betting has become increasingly available and easy to engage in. Here we examined the neural responses to stimuli that represent sporting events available for betting as compared to sporting events without a gambling opportunity. We used a cue exposure task in which football (soccer) fans (N = 42) viewed cues depicting scheduled football games that would occur shortly after the scanning session.

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Background: The application of accelerated high-frequency (HF) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) could be a potential treatment option for alcohol-dependent patients and may result in a faster clinical response. In this open-label HF-rTMS feasibility study, we wanted to replicate previous findings of baseline brain activation as a predictor of relapse, and to evaluate how this intervention influences the relapse neurocircuit of "treatment-seeking" alcohol-dependent patients, by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) cue-exposure paradigms. Because relapsing patients have a diminished resilience of the emotion regulation/cognitive control system, before HF-rTMS treatment, we expected lower neuronal activation of especially the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during the presentation of alcohol-related cues in these patients.

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In alcohol-dependent patients craving is a difficult-to-treat phenomenon. It has been suggested that high-frequency (HF) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may have beneficial effects. However, exactly how this application exerts its effect on the underlying craving neurocircuit is currently unclear.

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Background: Alcohol dependency can be considered as a chronic mental disorder characterized by frequent relapses even when treated with appropriate medical or psychotherapeutic interventions. Here, the efficacy of different neuromodulation techniques in alcohol addiction, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is critically evaluated.

Methods: A broad literature search on electronic databases such as NCBI PubMed, the Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane Library was conducted.

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