Zhang JJQ, et al. - In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 26 randomized controlled trials, researchers determined the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in decreasing craving and consumption among 748 patients with alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drug dependence. The data presented in this work showed a significant decline in craving in correlation with excitatory rTMS of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) vs sham stimulation. In addition, the total number of stimulation pulses were identified to be significantly positively related to effect size among studies using excitatory left DLPFC stimulation. However, excitatory rTMS of the left DLPFC and excitatory deep TMS of the bilateral DLPFC and insula vs sham stimulation had significant consumption-reducing effects when examining substance consumption. The dose of stimulation may be associated with the anti-craving effect.