The Effect of Direct Transcranial Current Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex with Aerobic Training on Food Craving, Attentional Bias to Food, and Cardiometabolic indices in Obese Men

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under (CC BY-NC 4.0) license

Authors

1 Department of exercise physiology, Khor.C, Islamic Azad University, Khorramabad, Iran

2 Department of exercise physiology, Khor.C, Islamic Azad University, Khorramabad, Iran.

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of direct transcranial stimulation of the DLPFC with aerobic exercise on food craving, attentional bias towards food, and cardiometabolic indices in obese men.
Method: The research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design. The subjects included 30 obese men who were selected purposively according to the inclusion criteria. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: real DLPFC stimulation with aerobic exercise and sham DLPFC stimulation with aerobic exercise. In the pre-test phase (before the intervention) and in the post-test phase (48 hours after the intervention), participants were asked to complete food craving and attentional bias questionnaires, and then the next day, blood samples were taken from the participants after a 10-hour overnight fast. The training program was 8 weeks long, with 3 sessions per week. Data analysis was performed using paired t-tests and analysis of covariance.
Results: The results of the present study showed that real DLPFC stimulation with aerobic exercise had a significant effect on reducing food cravings and attentional bias towards food in obese men (P<0.01). However, sham DLPFC stimulation with aerobic exercise had no significant effect on food cravings and attentional bias towards food in obese men (P<0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that real DLPFC stimulation with aerobic exercise, compared to sham DLPFC stimulation with aerobic exercise, caused a greater decrease in fasting glucose, insulin resistance, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL, and a greater increase in HDL in obese men.

Highlights

  • Combining direct transcranial stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with aerobic exercise appears to be an effective and promising approach.

  • This combined approach reduces food cravings and significantly improves cardiometabolic indices in obese men.

  • Simultaneously targeting neural mechanisms of appetite control and leveraging the physiological benefits of exercise training can lead to better obesity management and reduced risk of related diseases.

  • The study paves the way for developing new and more comprehensive therapeutic interventions in public health.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 05 August 2025
  • Revise Date: 01 September 2025
  • Accept Date: 09 September 2025
  • First Publish Date: 09 September 2025

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