A Feasibility Study of Mindfulness Training Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Adults With Overweight and Obesity (MINDED)

King's College London

Status

Completed

Conditions

Adults With Overweight and Obesity

Treatments

Combination Product: Mindfulness training + real tDCS

Combination Product: Mindfulness training + sham tDCS

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05865912

3159550

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will investigate the feasibility of combining an app-based Mindfulness training (MT) with at-home administered transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in adults with overweight or obesity and assess whether MT with tDCS may improve weight-related behaviours in this population. Specifically, the study will assess whether MT+ active tDCS, as opposed to MT+ sham tDCS or waiting list control, reduces high calorie food craving and consumption. Findings will inform the development of a future large-scale randomised controlled trial. The trial will be conducted in the UK.

Full description

A randomised controlled feasibility trial with three parallel arms: [MT + real tDCS] vs [MT + sham tDCS] vs [Waiting list control group].

Enrollment

52 patients

Sex

Female

Ages

18 to 60 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Adults aged 18 to 60 w
Overweight or obese (BMI ≥25 kg/ m2) according to World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria.
Use and understand English as a language for everyday conversation.
Have access to a laptop or desktop computer with webcam and to able to attend baseline, post intervention and follow up assessments in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (KCL).

Exclusion criteria

Insufficient written and spoken English
All known contraindications to tDCS (Brunoni et al., 2012)
Pregnancy; history of neurological disease and/or seizure
Having any metallic implants in the head or body
History of head or eye injury
Significant health problems in the previous six months
A lifetime diagnosis of substance dependence, psychosis, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder; any other primary psychiatric disorder requiring treatment in its own right
Taking psychotropic medication
Taking medication for weight loss Regular, current or past, mindfulness meditation or yoga practice (defined as > 20 minutes, twice or more per week during the past 2 months)
Consuming more than 14 units of alcohol per week who are unwilling to reduce their alcohol intake for the duration of the treatment
Current illicit drug use
Learning difficulties that would preclude safe tDCS self-administration and/or completion of questionnaire measures and neurocognitive tasks (e.g.; working memory and inhibitory control)
Current atypical anorexia nervosa or purging once a week or more.