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Updated: May 28, 2026

Intermittent Binge-Intake Model in Mice
Published on: January 10, 2025
Prefrontal systems involvement in binge eating
1Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks, Center for Surgical Weight Loss, Nashville, TN 37204, USA. abbe.boeka@vanderbilt.edu
Objective:
This study examined whether severity of binge eating is associated with dysfunction in behaviors mediated by the three main areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
Methods:
One hundred fifty-one adults (mean BMI=49.50) were classified into three groups based on the presence and severity of binge eating behaviors: Binge Eating Disorder (BED) group (N=22), Binge Eating Prone (BEP) group (N=47), and non-Eating Disorder (non-ED) group (N=82). Participants completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), a widely used measure of neurobehavioral traits associated with the three primary regions of the PFC corresponding with the behavioral traits of apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction.
Results:
The BED and BEP groups scored significantly higher than the non-ED group on the three FrSBe subscales, as well as the FrSBe Total score. There were no significant correlations between the FrSBe and participant BMI.
Discussion:
As expected, individuals who engaged in binge eating endorsed greater PFC dysfunction than those who did not binge eat. These results provide a complement to studies utilizing neuroimaging and neuropsychological methodologies and further support for the role of prefrontal systems in the regulation of eating behavior.
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