Two patients with binge eating disorder had their cravings taken away by electric shocks to their brains.
Two patients were fitted with a brain implant that would zap the part of the brain associated with cravings.
They told The New York Times that after the surgery, they made better decisions about food.
More patients need to be tested to see if the technique works. Millions of people struggle with binge eating.
The purpose of the study was to test the device's safety.
The effect on the subjects of the study was "really impressive and exciting" according to the senior author of the study.
The two patients said that they had less binge watching. The implant seems to have changed their behavior.
Baldwin said she used to swing by a Ben & Jerry's on her way to the pharmacy. She said that she could not think about ice cream after the device was used.
Women's food preferences seem to have been altered by the implant.
Baldwin said she used to like sweet foods, but now prefers them to be more salty. She would sometimes eat peanut butter from the jar. She doesn't crave it anymore.
Baldwin said that he thinks about food at all. I'm no longer a craver.
Both women have tried many ways to lose weight.
Both of them had surgery on their gut after trying extreme diet and surgery. The weight continued to come back.
People with weight gain are not uncommon. According to research, it is difficult for obese patients to keep their weight off.
A growing body of research is looking for treatments that don't rely on will power.
The idea of targeting brain waves to fight cravings has been appealing, so much so that Musk said his Neuralink brain implant could one day fight morbid Obesity.
The brain's hypothalamus is thought to send out signals before someone feels a craving.
The implant that was used in the study was able to recognize the brain waves and zap them with electricity to make them stop craving.
Six months was the length of the study. The patient lost more than 11 pounds and there were no serious side effects.
The patient no longer fits the definition of having a binge-eating disorder.
You can't get this implant at your doctor's office. The scientists don't know if it was the implant that caused the weight loss.
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The researchers will do a bigger study to make sure this isn't true. Hundreds of patients are recruited and built in procedures to test for the placebo effect.
The study is going to follow Tolly and Baldwin for six months and then try to find four more patients.
The original article was published by Business Insider.
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