Prefrontal cortex and impulsivity : interest of noninvasive brain stimulation

Introduction: Impulsivity has been reported in many psychiatric conditions and includes deficits in several cognitive functions such as attention, inhibitory control, risk taking, delay discounting and planning. Many studies have shown that noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques modulate the activity of the prefrontal cortex and the functions involved in impulsivity. Objective: This article aims to review the literature on the effect of NIBS on impulsivity in healthy subjects aged 18–65 years old, and to highlight research avenues to develop therapeutic alternatives for such disorders. Method: We performed a systematic review of the literature in the PubMed database following PRISMA method with “transcranial magnetic stimulation”, “repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation”, “transcranial direct current stimulation”, “inhibition”, “risk”, “impulsive behavior”, “attention”, “reward”, “delay discounting”, “delay task”, “planning”, “prefrontal cortex” as key words. Results: We selected fifty-six studies showing modulation of the cognitive functions involved in impulsivity through NIBS. Conclusions: The data led us to consider new therapeutic alternatives in impulsive disorders by modulating prefrontal cortex activity through NIBS