Prefronto-cerebellar neuromodulation affects appetite in obesity

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 43; no. 10; pp. 2119 - 2124
• Main Authors: Marron, Elena M., Viejo-Sobera, Raquel, Cuatrecasas, Guillem, Redolar-Ripoll, Diego, Lorda, Pilar García, Datta, Abhishek, Bikson, Marom, Magerowski, Greta, Alonso-Alonso, Miguel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/378; 692/308/575; Adult; Analysis; Appetite; Appetite - physiology; Body mass index; Body size; Brief Communication; Cerebellum; Cognitive ability; Cross-Over Studies; Direct current; Electrical stimulation of the brain; Electrical stimuli; Epidemiology; ESB; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Female; Food; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Hunger; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical imaging; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Memory; Memory tasks; Mental task performance; Metabolic Diseases; Motor task performance; Neurofeedback; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuromodulation; Obesity; Obesity - physiopathology; Obesity - therapy; Pilot Projects; Prefrontal Cortex; Public Health; Short term memory; Spain - epidemiology; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Treatment Outcome; Spain
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/s41366-018-0278-8

Human neuroimaging studies have consistently reported changes in cerebellar function and integrity in association with obesity. To date, however, the nature of this link has not been studied directly. Emerging evidence suggests a role for the cerebellum in higher cognitive functions through reciprocal connections with the prefrontal cortex. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine appetite changes associated with noninvasive prefronto-cerebellar neuromodulation in obesity. Totally, 12 subjects with class I obesity (mean body mass index 32.9 kg/m 2 ) underwent a randomized, single-blinded, sham-controlled, crossover study, during which they received transcranial direct current stimulation ((tDCS); active/sham) aimed at simultaneously enhancing the activity of the prefrontal cortex and decreasing the activity of the cerebellum. Changes in appetite (state and food-cue-triggered) and performance in a food-modified working memory task were evaluated. We found that active tDCS caused an increase in hunger and desire to eat following food-cue exposure. In line with these data, subjects also tended to make more errors during the working memory task. No changes in basic motor performance occurred. This study represents the first demonstration that prefronto-cerebellar neuromodulation can influence appetite in individuals with obesity. While preliminary, our findings support a potential role for prefronto-cerebellar pathways in the behavioral manifestations of obesity.