Wednesday, September 27

Tag: overcoming binge eating disorder

A study testing brain implants to prevent binge eating is a first for the world.
Health

A study testing brain implants to prevent binge eating is a first for the world.

Two obese binge-eating disorder sufferers were surgically implanted with a gadget as part of a groundbreaking pilot study. The device was developed to identify and inhibit brain signals associated to binge-eating food cravings, with promising results laying the framework for a future in which implants can control a variety of impulsive behaviors. The new study was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's (UPenn) Perelman School of Medicine and released on Monday, August 29 in Nature Medicine. A compact gadget that monitors food craving-related brain activity in a crucial brain region and reacts by electrically stimulating that region showed promise in a pilot clinical trial, according to researchers from UPenn. Two patients with loss-of-control binge eating disorder responded f...