Prefrontal cortex and impulsivity: Interest of noninvasive brain stimulation

•Non invasive brain stimulation modulates cognitive functions involved in impulsivity.•Performances are enhanced only in the high-level top-down processes.•Results show a right hemispheric predominance.•Bifrontal tDCS may be considered as a therapeutic alternative in impulsivity.

IntroductionImpulsivity 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.ObjectiveThis 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.MethodWe 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.ResultsWe selected fifty-six studies showing modulation of the cognitive functions involved in impulsivity through NIBS.ConclusionsThe data led us to consider new therapeutic alternatives in impulsive disorders by modulating prefrontal cortex activity through NIBS.