NCT04409457

Self-Control in Bulimia Nervosa

The Influences of Eating and Fasting on Inhibitory Control in Bulimia Nervosa: A Computational Neuroimaging Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 100 (actual)
• Sponsor: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years – 35 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study examines the influence of acute fasting and eating on self-control in adult females with and without bulimia nervosa (BN). Specifically, the study team is investigating whether differences in behavior and brain activation in response to computer tasks after fasting and after eating a meal could help to explain the symptoms of bulimia nervosa. Data will be collected using questionnaires and a technology called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Detailed description

Treatment-resistant binge eating and purging may be perpetuated by self-control deficits linked to reduced activation in frontostriatal circuits. To date, however, neurocognitive studies of BN have not assessed the dynamic computational processes underlying inhibition or considered the fact that individuals with BN oscillate between two extremes-under-controlled and over-controlled intake. The proposed study combines neuroimaging with computational modeling to investigate the influences of acute fasting and eating (i.e., metabolic states) on how the brains of women with bulimia nervosa (BN) adaptively prepare for and exert inhibitory control. More specifically, the study has the following main objectives: 1) To determine whether eating and fasting affect adaptive inhibitory control and related frontostriatal activation abnormally in BN; 2) To identify associations of BN severity with state-specific frontostriatal activation and behavior.

Conditions

• Bulimia Nervosa

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	fasting state	16 hours of fasting
OTHER	fed state	fed a standardized meal
OTHER	magnetic resonance imaging	neuroimaging with computational modeling

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-09-18
• Primary completion: 2024-11-05
• Completion: 2024-11-05
• First posted: 2020-06-01
• Last updated: 2026-02-06
• Results posted: 2026-01-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States