Binge-Eating Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
reward sensitivity, neuroimaging, variability, ecological momentary assessment (EMA)
Brief summary
People who suffer from binge eating disorder experience recurrent episodes of binge eating.During these episodes, they consume an unusually large amount of food in a short amount of time and experience loss of control over eating. However, why such binge eating episodes occur is still largely unknown. This makes it difficult to develop targeted treatments. In this project, the experimenters are investigating the brain mechanisms that give rise to the disorder. They hypothesize that the binge eating episodes are due to an increased variability in reward processing, which they will assess repeatedly over days. They will test this hypothesis using mathematical models based on behavioural and MRI measurements that are related to the processing of rewards.
Interventions
DIAGNOSTIC_TESTfMRI
(Imaging while) performing reward related tasks.
Sponsors
Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation
University Hospital Tuebingen
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 69 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Binge eating disorder diagnosis * Subsyndromal binge eating (control)
Exclusion criteria
* high risk of suicide * co-occurring psychotic, bi-polar disorders, alcohol/substance dependence within the past six months * lack of capacity for consent * medical disorders that would affect weight and ability to participate * insufficient German language skills (assessment will be in German) * taking medication that would affect weight * MRI
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Variability in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signalling in the NAcc during effort allocation task | 100 min | Variability of BOLD signal in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) over time and between trials while performing an effort allocation task. The signal is measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and variability is determined through model residuals. |
| Trial-to-trial variability in reward seeking in an effort allocation task | 40 min | Variability of performance is an intra-individual measure, that is defined by the residuals of a linear mixed effects model of trial-to-trial performance on the effort allocation task. |
| Variability in BOLD signalling in the NAcc for food-cue reactivity | 15 | Variability of BOLD signal in the NAcc between blocks of food pictures. The signal is measured through fMRI and variability is determined through model residuals. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Variability in BOLD signalling in the NAcc during non-food-cue reactivity | 5 | Variability of BOLD signal in the NAcc between blocks of non-food pictures. The signal is measured through fMRI and variability is determined through model residuals. |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed