Noninvasive neuromodulation of the prefrontal cortex in subjects with obesity: a proof-of-concept study

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity continues increasingly alarming in Brazil and worldwide. The most widely recommended therapy for obesity is lifestyle modification, however, implementing lifestyle changes that can lead to weight loss is difficult and long-term maintenance of a reduced weight even more challenging. A growing body of work in brain-based integrative studies in the obesity field indicate the potential to design therapeutic interventions. The transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a well-studied technique for noninvasive brain modulation, and it is demonstrating through recent studies contribute to decrease food craving and food intake, and, more recently, the body weight. This technique improves the cognitive processes that are the key to self-regulation of eating behavior, such as inhibitory control. This will be a randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled proof-of-concept study aimed at examining the effects of tDCS, alone and in combination with a hypocaloric diet, on body weight to enhance weight loss during a diet and help maintain the lost weight over time. This innovative exploratory clinical research proposal uses a biomedical intervention that could transform the paradigm for weight loss and weight loss maintenance by offering a new way to treat obesity. Results from this study will lead to larger, long-term studies to evaluate this noninvasive neuromodulation intervention. (AU)