Binges and Neural Variability

What is Driving the Binge in Binge Eating Disorder? Variability in Brain Response to Reward and the Escalation of Consumption

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.

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 exclusion criteria
• irremovable metal attached to the body (e.g. piercings)
• irremovable medical devices (e.g. pacemakers)
• any trauma or surgery which may have left ferromagnetic material in the body
• large tattoos
• pregnancy
• claustrophobia