Scholars@Duke
Gregory L Sahlem

Gregory L Sahlem

Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences

Selected Publications

Exploring the Utility of a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Cannabis Cue-Reactivity Paradigm in Treatment-Seeking Adults With Cannabis Use Disorder.

Journal Article Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · September 2024 BackgroundFunctional magnetic resonance imaging studies examining cue reactivity in cannabis use disorder (CUD) either have had small sample sizes or have involved non-treatment-seeking participants. As a secondary analysis, we administered a func ... Full text Cite

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults.

Journal Article Cochrane Database Syst Rev · August 2, 2024 BACKGROUND: The estimated lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults worldwide has been estimated at 3.9%. PTSD appears to contribute to alterations in neuronal network connectivity patterns. Current pharmacological and psychoth ... Full text Link to item Cite

Magnesium-ibogaine therapy in veterans with traumatic brain injuries.

Journal Article Nat Med · February 2024 Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability. Sequelae can include functional impairments and psychiatric syndromes such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. Special Operations Forces (SOF) veterans (SOVs) may ... Full text Link to item Cite

A preliminary randomized controlled trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in treatment seeking participants with cannabis use disorder.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · January 1, 2024 BACKGROUND: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is a common and consequential disorder. When applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduces craving across substance use disorders and may have ther ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of Hyperdirect Pathway Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Inhibitory Control, Craving, and Smoking in Adults With Nicotine Dependence: A Double-Blind, Randomized Crossover Trial.

Journal Article Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging · November 2023 BACKGROUND: Nicotine dependence is associated with dysregulated hyperdirect pathway (HDP)-mediated inhibitory control (IC). However, there are currently no evidence-based treatments that have been shown to target the HDP to improve IC and reduce cigarette ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Preliminary Investigation Of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Applied To The Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex In Treatment Seeking Participants With Cannabis Use Disorder.

Journal Article medRxiv · July 12, 2023 BACKGROUND: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is a common and consequential disorder. When applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduces craving across substance use disorders and may have a th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults

Journal Article Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · January 7, 2022 Objectives: This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows:. To assess the safety and efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adul ... Full text Cite

Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression

Chapter · January 1, 2022 The first works, in the mid-1990s, that showed that electromagnetic waves could stimulate neurons have led to the discovery that transcranial magnetic stimulation could alter mood states. Swiftly, a repetitive form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTM ... Full text Cite

The Effects of Focal Electrically Administered Seizure Therapy Compared With Ultrabrief Pulse Right Unilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy on Suicidal Ideation: A 2-Site Clinical Trial.

Journal Article J ECT · December 1, 2021 BACKGROUND: Preliminary data suggest that focal electrically administered seizure therapy (FEAST) has antidepressant effects and less adverse cognitive effects than traditional forms of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This study compared the impact of FEA ... Full text Link to item Cite

Varenicline as a treatment for cannabis use disorder: A placebo-controlled pilot trial.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · December 1, 2021 BACKGROUND: An efficacious pharmacotherapy for cannabis use disorder (CUD) has yet to be established. This study preliminarily evaluated the safety and efficacy of varenicline for CUD in a proof-of-concept clinical trial. METHODS: Participants in this 6-we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sleep and substance use disorder treatment: A preliminary study of subjective and objective assessment of sleep during an intensive outpatient program.

Journal Article Am J Addict · September 2021 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Characteristics of sleep concerns and their relationship to mental health in heterogeneous substance use disorder (SUD) treatment settings are not well understood. The purpose of this preliminary study was to assess sleep using s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Treatment of Adults with Autism and Major Depressive Disorder Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: An Open Label Pilot Study.

Journal Article Autism Res · March 2020 Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at high risk for comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD), which can severely impair functioning and quality of life. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation te ... Full text Link to item Cite

A two-site, open-label, non-randomized trial comparing Focal Electrically-Administered Seizure Therapy (FEAST) and right unilateral ultrabrief pulse electroconvulsive therapy (RUL-UBP ECT).

Journal Article Brain Stimul · 2020 BACKGROUND: Focal Electrically-Administered Seizure Therapy (FEAST) is a form of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) that spatially focuses the electrical stimulus to initiate seizure activity in right prefrontal cortex. Two open-label non-comparative studies ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transcranial electrical and magnetic stimulation (tES and TMS) for addiction medicine: A consensus paper on the present state of the science and the road ahead.

Journal Article Neurosci Biobehav Rev · September 2019 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 cons ... Full text Link to item Cite

Insomnia severity during early abstinence is related to substance use treatment completion in adults enrolled in an intensive outpatient program.

Journal Article J Subst Abuse Treat · September 2019 BACKGROUND: Insomnia and other types of sleep disturbance are highly prevalent during withdrawal across many different types of substance use disorders (SUDs). It is largely unknown how sleep impacts SUD treatment outcomes, including treatment completion. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of cannabis legalization on treatment and research priorities for cannabis use disorder.

Journal Article Int Rev Psychiatry · June 2018 An increasing proportion of the world has legalized cannabis for medicinal or recreational use. The legalization trend appears to be continuing. These changes in the legislative landscape may have important health, treatment, and research implications. Thi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Biological correlates of self-reported new and continued abstinence in cannabis cessation treatment clinical trials.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · June 1, 2018 BACKGROUND: The agreement between self-reported cannabis abstinence with urine cannabinoid concentrations in a clinical trials setting is not well characterized. We assessed the agreement between various cannabinoid cutoffs and self-reported abstinence acr ... Full text Link to item Cite

The role of rTMS for patients with severe PTSD and depression.

Journal Article Evid Based Ment Health · February 2018 Full text Link to item Cite

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) administration to heavy cannabis users.

Journal Article Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse · 2018 BACKGROUND: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is a common condition with few treatments. Several studies in other substance use disorders have found that applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex inhibits medial orbitofrontal activity in smokers.

Journal Article Am J Addict · December 2017 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Several studies have shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), can reduce cue-elicited craving in smokers. Currently, the mechanism of this effect is unk ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Role of Amantadine Withdrawal in 3 Cases of Treatment-Refractory Altered Mental Status.

Journal Article J Psychiatr Pract · May 2017 Amantadine, which was originally developed as an antiviral medication, functions as a dopamine agonist in the central nervous system and consequently is utilized in the treatment of Parkinson disease, drug-induced extrapyramidal reactions, and neuroleptic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reduces resting-state insula activity and modulates functional connectivity of the orbitofrontal cortex in cigarette smokers.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · May 1, 2017 BACKGROUND: Previous studies reported that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can reduce cue-elicited craving and decrease cigarette consumption in smokers. The mechanism of this effect however, remains unclear. We used resting-state funct ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unilateral ultra-brief pulse electroconvulsive therapy for depression in Parkinson's disease.

Journal Article Acta Neurol Scand · April 2017 OBJECTIVES: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has demonstrated efficacy in treating core symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD); however, widespread use of ECT in PD has been limited due to concern over cognitive burden. We investigated the use of a newer ECT ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neuroversion: using electroconvulsive therapy as a bridge to deep brain stimulation implantation.

Journal Article Neurocase · February 2017 Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder with significant neuropsychiatric comorbidities. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in treating these neuropsychiatric symptoms; however, clinicians are reluctant to use ECT in patients with deep br ... Full text Link to item Cite

Expanded Safety and Efficacy Data for a New Method of Performing Electroconvulsive Therapy: Focal Electrically Administered Seizure Therapy.

Journal Article J ECT · September 2016 OBJECTIVE: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most rapid and effective antidepressant treatment but with concerns about cognitive adverse effects. A new form of ECT, focal electrically administered seizure therapy (FEAST), was designed to increase the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Five-Year Follow-Up of Bilateral Epidural Prefrontal Cortical Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Journal Article Brain Stimul · 2016 BACKGROUND: Epidural prefrontal cortical stimulation (EpCS) represents a novel therapeutic approach with many unique benefits that can be used for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term safety and efficacy of EpCS of the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reward circuit DBS improves Parkinson's gait along with severe depression and OCD.

Journal Article Neurocase · 2016 A 59-year-old Caucasian man with a past history of Parkinson's disease (PD) status post-bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS), who also had treatment-resistant (TR) obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and treatment-resistant dep ... Full text Link to item Cite

Oscillating Square Wave Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Delivered During Slow Wave Sleep Does Not Improve Declarative Memory More Than Sham: A Randomized Sham Controlled Crossover Study.

Journal Article Brain Stimul · 2015 BACKGROUND: A 2006 trial in healthy medical students found that anodal slow oscillating tDCS delivered bi-frontally during slow wave sleep had an enhancing effect in declarative, but not procedural memory. Although there have been supporting animal studies ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adjunctive triple chronotherapy (combined total sleep deprivation, sleep phase advance, and bright light therapy) rapidly improves mood and suicidality in suicidal depressed inpatients: an open label pilot study.

Journal Article J Psychiatr Res · December 2014 Previous studies have demonstrated that combined total sleep deprivation (Wake therapy), sleep phase advance, and bright light therapy (Triple Chronotherapy) produce a rapid and sustained antidepressant effect in acutely depressed individuals. To date no s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Electroencephalography

Chapter · December 1, 2007 Full text Cite