What if you can cut down food cravings

Brain stimulation might help you achieve the feat

Stimulating the brain to alter its intrinsic reward system can help reduce food cravings, paving the way for safe therapies to treat obesity, scientists say.

It has been reported that, in some obesity cases, the reward system in the brain may be altered, causing a greater reward response to food than in normal weight individuals. This can make patients more vulnerable to craving, and can lead to weight gain.

This dysfunction in the reward system can also be seen in cases of addiction to substances eg drugs or alcohol, or behaviours such as gambling. Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dTMS) is a medical treatment that uses magnetic energy to stimulate neurons in specific areas of the brain.

It is used to treat depression and addictive behaviours, and previous studies have suggested that dTMS could be a good option to reduce drug and food cravings. However, the potential mechanism driving these changes had not been investigated until now.

Researchers from the IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) in Italy, investigated the effects of dTMS on appetite and satiety in obese people. They studied the effects of a single 30 minute session of dTMS, at high or low frequency, on blood markers potentially associated with food reward in a group of 40 obese patients. They found that high frequency dTMS significantly increased blood levels of beta-endorphins — neurotransmitters involved in producing heightened feelings of reward after food ingestion compared to low frequency dTMS or controls.

“For the first time, this study is able to suggest an explanation of how dTMS could alter food cravings in obese subjects” said Professor Livio Luzi, from IRCCS.