A Canadian study has found that brain stimulation may curb food cravings. In fact, the consumption of junk food products, such as sodas, cookies and cakes, could be reduced in particular.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have found that stimulating a specific part of the brain could help reduce snacking.<\/p>\n
The scientists targeted a part of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which appears to play a role in “the conscious regulation of food craving and consumption of calorie-dense foods.”<\/p>\n
The researchers identified 11 lab-based studies evaluating the effects of stimulating this part of the brain on food cravings and food consumption. Their paper, published in the journal “Psychosomatic Medicine,” also identified some evidence that brain stimulation specifically reduced the consumption of carbohydrates, such as cookies, cakes and soda.<\/p>\n
However, brain stimulation was not found to reduce overall food intake. The results of nine studies focusing on total food consumption proved inconclusive.<\/p>\n
The researchers suggest that brain stimulation may work on the brain’s reward center and\/or improve cognitive control over the thoughts and emotions that govern cravings. In fact, people with lower activity levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex could be more likely to succumb to food cravings and gain weight because they’re less able to control their impulses.<\/p>\n
The researchers conclude that brain stimulation could be a useful strategy to explore in the prevention of conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
The study is available here: http:\/\/journals.lww.com\/psychosomaticmedicine\/Abstract\/publishahead\/Effects_of_Noninvasive_Brain_Stimulation_on_Food.98928.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Canadian study has found that brain stimulation may curb food cravings. In fact, the consumption of junk food products, such as sodas, cookies and cakes, could be reduced in particular.\u00a0 Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have found that stimulating a specific part of the brain could help reduce snacking. The scientists Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}