The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation and nutritional counseling therapy on attentional bias to food cues: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: This study investigated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and nutritional counseling therapy (NCT) on attentional bias (AB) in binge eating disorder.

METHODS

This study was designed as a pilot randomized, factorial, blind, parallel-controlled clinical trial. Forty women were allocated to one of four groups: active tDCS (a-tDCS), a-tDCS + NCT, s-tDCS (sham tDCS) + NCT, NCT. The 28 home-based tDCS sessions were applied to the DLPFC (anode/right and cathode/left). The outcome was the delta values (pre- and post-treatment AB scores). Each AB score was calculated based on the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) at which stimuli were presented (100, 500, and 2000 ms).

RESULTS

Mixed analyses of variance revealed a significant interaction between treatment and SOA (p = 0.035). The a-tDCS with NCT group showed a decrease in AB at an SOA of 500 ms. This decrease significantly differed from the increase observed in the s-tDCS with NCT group for the same SOA (p = 0.027). The a-tDCS with NCT group showed an increase in AB at an SOA of 2000 ms, which differed significantly from the decrease observed at the same SOA in the a-tDCS group (p = 0.032).

CONCLUSIONS

The combined therapy (a-tDCS with NCT) decreased AB at the pre-conscious orientation of attention and increased it when conscious orientation was possible.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04226794. Registered on July 2, 2019.