Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2025
Randomized, Triple-Blind, and Parallel-Controlled Trial of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Cognitive Rehabilitation after Stroke
Published on: June 6, 2025
Improved food Go/No-Go scores after transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to prefrontal cortex in a
Emma J Stinson1, Katherine T Travis1, Greta Magerowski2
1Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section, Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Objective:
Reduced dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity and inhibitory control may contribute to obesity. The study objective was to assess effects of repeated transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on food Go/No-Go (GNG), food Stroop performance, and snack food intake.
Methods:
Twenty-nine individuals with obesity (12 male; mean [SD], age 42 [11] years; BMI 39 [8]) participated in a combined inpatient/outpatient randomized parallel-design trial and received 15 sessions of anodal or sham tDCS to the left dlPFC. Food-related inhibitory control (GNG), attentional bias (Stroop), and snack food intake were assessed at baseline, completion of inpatient sessions (day 7), and follow-up (day 31).
Results:
GNG performance improved in the anodal group by day 31, compared with sham (p = 0.01), but Stroop scores did not differ by intervention. Greater snack food intake was associated with lower GNG scores (p = 0.01), driven by the sham group (p < 0.001) and higher food and palatable bias scores on the Stroop (all p = 0.02) across both groups. Changes on tasks were not associated with changes in intake.
Conclusions:
Anodal tDCS to the left dlPFC improved performance on a food-related inhibitory control task, providing evidence of potential for therapeutic benefit of neuromodulation in areas controlling executive function. Results showed that tDCS to the dlPFC reduced snack food intake and hunger; however, underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain uncertain.
