Deep Brain Stimulation in mice can reduce binge eating

Binge eating is a major cause of obesity; it is thought to be controlled, or initiated, by reward centres in the brain.  Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that using Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in obese mice reduces the amount they eat and promotes weight loss.

Deep Brain Stimulation involves implanting a ‘brain pacemaker’ that electrically stimulates a certain part of the brain.  It is currently used in Parkinson’s disease to reduce tremors, and there is evidence that it can reduce symptoms of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Now it could be used to treat obesity.  Nearly 50% of obese people have problems with binge eating, uncontrollably consuming a vast amount of high-calorie food in a short amount of time.  This may be due to altered reward function, so researchers have been investigating brain regions involved in reward and addiction to combat binge eating.

In the current study, researchers stimulated the nucleus accumbens (a region implicated in addiction) in mice using DBS.  The mice given DBS ate less high fat food compared to mice without DBS, and when the stimulation was turned off briefly they did not compensate by eating more, though they did binge eat on days when the device was turned off all day.  The long-term effects were similarly promising: after four days of constant DBS, obese mice with unlimited access to high-fat food ate less and had reduced body weight.  They also had increased glucose sensitivity, similar to a reversal of type 2 diabetes.

DBS could therefore be used in humans to reduce obesity, since uncontrollable overeating is a key factor in obesity, and by targeting the nucleus accumbens these effects could be reduced.  However, it is an invasive procedure so it would need to be confirmed as a truly beneficial treatment to be used in humans.