Brain systems involved in food intake - a neuroimaging approach (C01)

• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 222193485

Homeostatic and hedonic processes regulate food intake and have been targeted using a neuroimaging approach and revealed distinct brain networks supporting these processes. In the next funding period we will explore the possibilities of modulation of these networks with the long-term goal to develop novel therapies. In one work-package we will use transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation, which has been shown to modulate activity in (among others) hypothalamus, ventral striatum and frontal cortical areas in response to food-related stimulation in pilot studies, and assess its effects on food intake and neural processing of food rewards. In a second work-package, we will use fMRI-inspired EEG neurofeedback in order to modulate the activity in the ventral striatum, again with food intake and brain responses to food rewards as readouts.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 134: Ingestive Behaviour: Homeostasis and Reward
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Lübeck
• Co-Applicant Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Stoffwechselforschung
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Thomas F. Münte; Professor Dr. Ulrich Schweiger, until 12/2017; Professor Dr. Marc Tittgemeyer