Research progress on transcranial temporal interference stimulation in the treatment of drug addiction

Transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) is a novel noninvasive brain neuromodulation technique developed on the basis of traditional transcranial electrical stimulation. The method was first published in Cell in 2017. Its principle involves the use of two high-frequency sinusoidal alternating currents with slightly different frequencies to generate a time-varying low-frequency modulated electric field, thereby enabling modulation of deep brain regions. In recent years, tTIS has been increasingly applied to studies involving animal models and human subjects with neurological disorders, focusing on its effectiveness, deep targeting capability, and precision of regulation. However, the detailed mechanisms of action and long-term efficacy remain under investigation. Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disorder with complex mechanisms involving the mesolimbic system and related brain regions, highlighting the importance of neuromodulation in addiction-related areas for therapeutic intervention. Given the noninvasive nature and deep-brain modulation capabilities of tTIS, this technique shows great potential in the treatment of drug addiction. This review summarizes current basic and clinical research on tTIS, outlines its principles, characteristics, and potential biological mechanisms, and further discusses its regulatory effects and mechanisms on key addiction-related brain regions.