A pilot study at USP’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School, funded by FAPESP, combined transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with nutrition education in women aged 20 to 40 with obesity. There were 15 sessions of 20 minutes over five days, alongside classes on satiety, mindful eating and emotional hunger.
Food craving fell right after the intervention and stayed lower at 1, 3 and 6 months. The sham-stimulation group also improved its eating control, which the authors credit mainly to the nutrition education. There were no significant adverse events.
The researchers stress it is a small pilot study and that weight and body composition did not change. It appeared in Physiology & Behavior, and the team will now test transcranial magnetic stimulation in people with obesity and binge eating.
