Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Food Craving, Attention Bias to Food, and Cognitive Flexibility in People with Binge Eating Disorder

This study aimed to investigate the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on food craving, attention bias to food, and cognitive flexibility in people with an eating disorder.

This is a pilot study with pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The study population consisted of 40 persons with an eating disorder who were purposefully selected using Binge Eating Scale, General Health Questionnaire, and clinical interview based on DSM-5 criteria. The participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. A pre-test was performed using a craving questionnaire, cognitive flexibility questionnaire, and food bias assessment tool based on the dot-prob paradigm. The intervention consisted of 10 sessions of two milliampere tDCS in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) area. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software (version 23) through multivariate analysis of covariance.

Based on the obtained results, tDCS treatment had a significant effect on food bias, cognitive flexibility, and food craving in people with overeating disorder (P≤0.05). Moreover, the results remained stable at the 45-day follow-up after the posttest.

Based on the results, the tDCS method along with other major therapeutic and psychological interventions can be effective in binge eating disorder. Therefore, the tDCS method can be promising and helpful as a suitable treatment modality with few side effects along with other major therapeutic interventions for patients with binge eating disorders.