Background of the study

Patients suffering from binge eating disorder report experiencing a loss of control regarding their eating behavior. This manifests in periods of uncontrollable consumption of an immense amount of food, so-called binges. So far, the origins of this loss of control are not well understood. A candidate mechanism are spontaneous variations occurring in brain activity over time. In this study, we will investigate the underlying processes of binges, especially of binge eating disorder (BED), and corresponding spatial and temporal profiles of brain activity.

Study procedure

We invite healthy control participants and patients suffering from BED. During a first session, we complete a comprehensive assessment of physiological and clinical data (standardized clinical interview, questionnaires). Additionally, during that first session, three computerized tasks are conducted targeting motivation and reward-related decision-making. After the first experimental session, patients complete at least 30 runs of an online game.
During the second session, participants complete tasks inside the MR scanner while we track the brain activity during the tasks. At that session, we also will draw blood samples to obtain information about metabolism and hormones.

The participation in the study will be reimbursed with 70-120€ (depending on earnings from the tasks).

Inclusion criteria

We look for women and men with normal to obese body weight without BED and patients with BED.
Additional:

• Right handed
• No metal implants in the body
• German speaking