Brain zaps tested for 'Healthy Eating' obsession
NCT ID NCT07141979
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a mild electrical brain stimulation technique called tDCS can improve cognitive flexibility in people with orthorexia nervosa — an extreme fixation on healthy eating. Researchers will compare brain wave patterns and task performance before and after real or fake stimulation in 48 adults. The goal is to understand the brain activity behind orthorexia, not to cure it.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a non-drug brain stimulation method to help people with orthorexia think more flexibly about food.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study (48 people) that measures brain activity, not symptoms. It may not lead to a treatment, and tDCS effects can be subtle or inconsistent.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 48 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Nov 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 40 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Being between the ages of 18-40, * Having a score of 17 or less on the Beck Depression Inventory * Having a score of 61 or more on the Test for Orthorexia Nervosa (TON-17) for the orthorexia group Exclusion Criteria: * Having a history of serious neurological and psychiatric illness, * Currently taking medication that alters the cortical excitability level, * Having visual defects that cannot be corrected with glasses * Use of intracranial metal objects, implanted stimulating devices or pacemakers
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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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Istanbul Medipol University
RECRUITINGIstanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
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