title: Transcranial direct current stimulation modulates ERP-indexed inhibitory control and reduces food consumption.
abstract: Food craving can be defined as the "urge to eat a specific food". Previous findings suggest impairment of inhibitory control, specifically a regulatory deficit in the lateral prefrontal circuitry that is associated with a compulsion for food. As demonstrated by three previous studies, bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (anode right/cathode left) reduces food craving and caloric intake. We designed the present study to evaluate the neural mechanisms that underlie these effects. We replicated the design of one of these previous studies but included electroencephalographic assessments to register evoked potentials in a Go/No-go task that contained pictures of food and furniture (a control visual stimulus). We collected data from nine women (mean age = 23.4 ± 2 years) in a crossover experiment. We observed that active DLPFC tDCS (anode right/cathode left), compared with sham stimulation, reduced the frontal N2 component and enhanced the P3a component of responses to No-go stimuli, regardless of the stimulus condition (food or furniture). Active tDCS was also associated with a reduction in caloric intake. We discuss our findings in the context of cortico-subcortical processing of craving and tDCS effects on inhibitory control neural circuitry.
authors.affiliation: Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Olivia Morgan
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Lapenta
authors.affiliation: Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karina Di
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Sierve
authors.affiliation: Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elizeu Coutinho
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: de Macedo
authors.affiliation: Spaulding Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fregni
authors.affiliation: Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Developmental Disorders Program, Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: boggio@mackenzie.br.
authors.forename: Paulo Sérgio
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Boggio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001066:Appetite; D066249:Craving / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D002149:Energy Intake; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; EEG; Eye-tracking; Food craving; Response inhibition; tDCS