Changes in Inhibition and Valuation After Eating

Last updated: February 13, 2026
Sponsor: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Overall Status: Active - Recruiting

Phase

N/A

Condition

Vomiting

Bulimia

Treatment

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Fasting state

Fed state

Clinical Study ID

NCT05995496
STUDY-22-01587
1R01MH132786
  • Ages 18-45
  • Female
  • Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Summary

An impaired ability to exert control has been implicated in bulimia nervosa (BN), but this impairment may not represent a stable trait or be the most effective focus for treatment. This project aims to understand how predictions and value-based decisions about control may be abnormally influenced by eating in individuals with BN, thereby maintaining cycles of binge eating, purging, and restriction.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female

  • Aged 18 to 45 years

  • Current BMI greater than or equal to 18.5kg/m2 but under 30kg/m2

  • Right-handed

  • English-speaking

Additional Inclusion Criteria for Women with Bulimia Nervosa:

  • Meet DSM-5 criteria for bulimia nervosa

Exclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Medical instability

  • Ongoing medical treatment, medical condition, or psychiatric disorder that mayinterfere with study variables or participation

  • Shift work

  • Pregnancy, planned pregnancy, or lactation during the study period

  • Allergy to any of the ingredients in or unwillingness to consume the standardizedmeal or unwillingness to drink water during the fasting period

  • Any contraindication for fMRI

Study Design

Total Participants: 150
Treatment Group(s): 3
Primary Treatment: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Phase:
Study Start date:
December 12, 2023
Estimated Completion Date:
December 31, 2027

Study Description

The overarching goal of this project is to test a neurocomputational model of BN that incorporates learning and decision-making components of control. The study combines functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), computational modeling, and real-time mobile assessments to examine the influences of acute fasting and eating on brain function and associated control-related updating and effort-valuation processes in BN. More specifically, the study has the following main objectives: 1) To determine the influence of eating on control-related prediction updating in BN.; 2) To determine the influence of eating on control-related cognitive effort valuation in BN; 3) To use state-specific neural activation to predict BN symptoms.

Connect with a study center

  • Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    New York, New York 10029
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    New York 5128581, New York 5128638 10029
    United States

    Active - Recruiting

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