Brain zaps and text alerts: new hope for bulimia?
NCT ID NCT07581158
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a combination of real-time brain training (using a wearable brain scanner called fNIRS) and personalized text messages can help women with bulimia nervosa improve self-control and reduce binge eating. Forty women aged 18-55 will receive either real or sham neurofeedback while viewing images and eating, followed by a 4-week text-messaging program. The goal is to see if this non-invasive approach can strengthen brain circuits involved in self-regulation and ease eating disorder symptoms.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- real-time fNIRS neurofeedback and smartphone text-messaging intervention
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a non-invasive, drug-free way to help people with bulimia nervosa gain better control over eating behaviors.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study (40 participants) testing a new approach. The neurofeedback may not produce lasting changes, and results may not apply to everyone with bulimia.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Center for Computational Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York, 10027, United States
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