Table 3.
NIBS (rTMS and tDCS) for obesity patients. This table illustrates 31 cases of transcranial direct current stimulation and 13 cases of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for obesity.
| Study | Modality | Target | Stimulation parameters | Stimulation timing | Number of patients | Age | Outcome | Follow up (effect duration) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goldman and colleagues142 | tDCS | Bl dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal (R dlPFC), cathodal (L dlPFC) | Single 20-min session | 19* | 32.5 ± 11 | Decreased food cravings but not food intake | None (unknown effect duration) |
| Montenegro and colleagues146 | tDCS | L dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal | Single 20-min session | 9 | 20–32 | Decreased appetite/desire to eat | None (unknown effect duration) |
| Gluck and colleagues147 | tDCS | L dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal | 3 40-min sessions over 3 days | 9 | 42 ± 8 | Decreased caloric consumption and greater weight loss compared to cathodal tDCS | None (unknown effect duration) |
| Bravo and colleagues148 | tDCS | R dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal | 5 30-min sessions over 5 days | 11 | 47 ± 11 | Decreased food cravings but no weight loss | 30 days (effect observed at last follow up) |
| Luzi and colleagues153 | rTMS | Bl dlPFC | 18 Hz | 3 sessions per week for 5 weeks | 11 | – | Reduction in food cravings and weight loss | 9 weeks (effect observed at last follow up) |
| Burgess and colleagues149 | tDCS | Bl dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal (R dlPFC), cathodal (L dlPFC) | Single 20-min session | 30** | – | Decreased food cravings and food intake; decreased binge-eating desire in male participants only | None (unknown effect duration) |
| Ljubisavljevic and colleagues150 | tDCS | R dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal | 5 40-min sessions over 5 days | 13*** | 21 ± 2 | Decreased food cravings | 30 days (effect observed at last follow up) |
| Ray and colleagues152 | tDCS | Bl dlPFC | 2 mA, anodal (R dlPFC), cathodal (L dlPFC) | Single 20-min session | 18 | 23 ± 8 | No decrease in food cravings or intake overall; decreased cravings/consumption when trait scores were controlled | None (unknown effect duration) |
Bl, bilateral; dlPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; L, left; rTMS, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; R, right; tDCS, transcranial direct current stimulation.
*
Only 11 of 19 participants were overweight or obese according to their BMI; **Burgess and colleagues’ participants were both overweight (BMI > 24.5 kg/m2) and met criteria for binge-eating disorder; ***Ljubisavljevic and colleagues also reported on 17 additional healthy participants with normal BMI.