Repetitive electric brain stimulation reduces food intake in humans

Jauch‐Chara, Kamila; Kistenmacher, Alina; Herzog, Nina; Schwarz, Marianka; Schweiger, Ulrich; Oltmanns, Kerstin M.

doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.075481

Cited by 76 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Changes in food intake have been rather inconsistent with a single session of rTMS or tDCS. In the longest study to date with tDCS (8 days), the authors found a 14% decrease in calorie consumption (Jauch-Chara et al, 2014). An important bias in some studies is the use of a sham procedure without any current flow as control, instead of sham stimulation in areas that are irrelevant to food intake for example.…”

Section: Non-invasive Neuromodulation Approaches: Recent Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity

Val‐Laillet¹,

Aarts

Weber

et al. 2015

NeuroImage: Clinical

391

321

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Functional, molecular and genetic neuroimaging has highlighted the existence of brain anomalies and neural vulnerability factors related to obesity and eating disorders such as binge eating or anorexia nervosa. In particular, decreased basal metabolism in the prefrontal cortex and striatum as well as dopaminergic alterations have been described in obese subjects, in parallel with increased activation of reward brain areas in response to palatable food cues. Elevated reward region responsivity may trigger food craving and predict future weight gain. This opens the way to prevention studies using functional and molecular neuroimaging to perform early diagnostics and to phenotype subjects at risk by exploring different neurobehavioral dimensions of the food choices and motivation processes. In the first part of this review, advantages and limitations of neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), pharmacogenetic fMRI and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) will be discussed in the context of recent work dealing with eating behavior, with a particular focus on obesity. In the second part of the review, non-invasive strategies to modulate food-related brain processes and functions will be presented. At the leading edge of non-invasive brain-based technologies is real-time fMRI (rtfMRI) neurofeedback, which is a powerful tool to better understand the complexity of human brain–behavior relationships. rtfMRI, alone or when combined with other techniques and tools such as EEG and cognitive therapy, could be used to alter neural plasticity and learned behavior to optimize and/or restore healthy cognition and eating behavior. Other promising non-invasive neuromodulation approaches being explored are repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS). Converging evidence points at the value of these non-invasive neuromodulation strategies to study basic mechanisms underlying eating behavior and to treat its disorders. Both of these approaches will be compared in light of recent work in this field, while addressing technical and practical questions. The third part of this review will be dedicated to invasive neuromodulation strategies, such as vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). In combination with neuroimaging approaches, these techniques are promising experimental tools to unravel the intricate relationships between homeostatic and hedonic brain circuits. Their potential as additional therapeutic tools to combat pharmacorefractory morbid obesity or acute eating disorders will be discussed, in terms of technical challenges, applicability and ethics. In a general discussion, we will put the brain at the core of fundamental research, prevention and therapy in the context of obesity and eating disorders. First, we will discuss the possibility to identify new biological markers of brain functions. Second, we will highli...

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Section: Non-invasive Neuromodulation Approaches: Recent Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity

Val‐Laillet¹,

Aarts

Weber

et al. 2015

NeuroImage: Clinical

391

321

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Direct current stimulation, which has a much lower invasiveness than electroconvulsive therapy, has also been investigated to increase food intake 72 in anorexia nervosa (but without adequate sham control) or to reduce food intake in healthy volunteers, 73 but otherwise mostly in neurological (motor) disorders.…”

Section: Placebo Responders In Non-pharmacological Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placebo effects in psychiatry: mediators and moderators

Weimer¹,

Colloca

Enck³

2015

The Lancet Psychiatry

187

166

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A strong placebo response in psychiatric disorders has been noted for the past 50 years and various attempts have been made to identify predictors of it, by use of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and laboratory studies. We reviewed 31 meta-analyses and systematic reviews of more than 500 randomised placebo-controlled trials across psychiatry (depression, schizophrenia, mania, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, psychosis, binge-eating disorder, and addiction) for factors identified to be associated with increased placebo response. Of 20 factors discussed, only three were often linked to high placebo responses: low baseline severity of symptoms, more recent trials, and unbalanced randomisation (more patients randomly assigned to drug than placebo). Randomised controlled trials in non-drug therapy have not added further predictors, and laboratory studies with psychological, brain, and genetic approaches have not been successful in identifying predictors of placebo responses. This comprehensive Review suggests that predictors of the placebo response are still to be discovered, the response probably has more than one mediator, and that different and distinct moderators are probably what cause the placebo response within psychiatry and beyond.

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“…The interpretation of such null findings is generally problematic, since effects may become significant with increasing the sample size or number of tDCS sessions. Nevertheless, as compared to previous studies on tDCS and food choices (Fregni et al, 2008; Goldman et al, 2011; Montenegro et al, 2012; Jauch-Chara et al, 2014; Kekic et al, 2014; Gluck et al, 2015; Ljubisavljevic et al, 2016), we here targeted distinct brain sites derived from recent pilot experiments that were conducted with the same food picture task and hence with the same task demands as in the present study (Kumar et al, 2016). Furthermore, our tDCS study included the largest human obese sample so far.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…However, this clear dichotomy seems to describe the effects in the motor cortex, which cannot be transferred to cognitive tasks per-se (Boehringer et al, 2013; Macher et al, 2014; Taubert et al, 2016). Previous studies investigating the effect of tDCS on the DLPFC suggest that anodal stimulation in lean individuals reduces food craving (Goldman et al, 2011; Montenegro et al, 2012; Kekic et al, 2014; Ljubisavljevic et al, 2016) and caloric intake (Fregni et al, 2008; Jauch-Chara et al, 2014) immediate to tDCS. The tDCS study by Gluck et al appears to be the only study to date, probing repetitive application of tDCS to the DLPFC in an solely obese cohort, resulting in decreased daily kilocalories consumed and greater percentage of weight loss as compared to cathodal and sham (placebo) stimulation (Gluck et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Non-invasive Prefrontal/Frontal Brain Stimulation Is Not Effective in Modulating Food Reappraisal Abilities or Calorie Consumption in Obese Females

et al. 2017

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Background/Objectives: Previous studies suggest that non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to the prefrontal cortex modulates food choices and calorie intake in obese humans.Participants/Methods: In the present fully randomized, placebo-controlled, within-subject and double-blinded study, we applied single sessions of anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and contralateral frontal operculum in 25 hungry obese women and investigated possible influences on food reappraisal abilities as well as calorie intake. We hypothesized that tDCS, (i) improves the ability to regulate the desire for visually presented foods and, (ii) reduces their consumption.Results: We could not confirm an effect of anodal or cathodal tDCS, neither on the ability to modulate the desire for visually presented foods, nor on calorie consumption.Conclusions: The present findings do not support the notion of prefrontal/frontal tDCS as a promising treatment option for obesity.

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Repetitive electric brain stimulation reduces food intake in humans

Abstract: Our study implies that the application of anodal direct currents to the right DLPFC represents a promising option for reducing both caloric intake and appetite in humans. This trial was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (www.germanctr.de) as DRKS00005811.

Cited by 76 publications

References 35 publications

Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity

Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity

Placebo effects in psychiatry: mediators and moderators

Non-invasive Prefrontal/Frontal Brain Stimulation Is Not Effective in Modulating Food Reappraisal Abilities or Calorie Consumption in Obese Females

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