An interventional study of Real fNIRS Neurofeedback and Sham-Control fNIRS Neurofeedback in Bulimia Nervosa, Feeding and Eating Disorders and Mental Disorders, sponsored by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 55 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-05.
Sponsored by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of noninvasive prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurofeedback during eating in women with bulimia nervosa (BN) using wearable brain imaging, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), together with a brain-based 4-week text-messaging intervention. The investigators will examine how these interventions may influence inhibitory control and eating disorder symptoms in women with bulimia nervosa.
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of PFC neurofeedback during eating in women with bulimia nervosa (BN) using fNIRS and a 4-week text messaging intervention. Specifically, the study aims 1) to use neurofeedback during eating to evaluate the causal role of PFC function in BN; and 2) to test individualized, neuro-based text messaging for treatment of BN. Data will be collected from women with BN who will be randomly assigned to one of two group conditions (real or sham-control neurofeedback during eating and text-messaging intervention). Participation includes a phone screening assessment, psychodiagnostic assessment, one in-person assessment, six in-person neurofeedback training sessions, 4 weeks of text-message intervention, behavioral tasks, online questionnaires, and online symptom assessments (before the neurofeedback visits and following the 4-week text message intervention), and a follow-up remote assessment.
173 studies on the registry are indexed under Bulimia Nervosa; 39 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 60 across 121 interventional studies indexed under Bulimia Nervosa.
Browse Bulimia Nervosa studies →Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is the lead sponsor of 776 studies on the registry; 176 are open to participants now.
Of its 125 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 83 (66%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants assigned to the experimental arm will see their true, real-time brain activation (i.e., active real-time neurofeedback) during the neurofeedback session. This activation will be displayed to the participant as a thermometer that will increase as brain activation in the target region increases. During the 4 week text-messaging intervention after neurofeedback, the active real-time neurofeedback group will be prompted to use neurofeedback strategies that increased their real PFC activation. Participants will also be directed to use these strategies in response to any unexpected urges each day.
Other: Real fNIRS Neurofeedback · Other: SmartPhone Intervention
Participants assigned to the sham-control arm will see false feedback (or a fake signal) during the neurofeedback session. During the 4 week text-messaging intervention after neurofeedback, the sham neurofeedback group will be prompted to use neurofeedback strategies they reported using when the sham feedback they saw was highest. Participants will also be directed to use these strategies in response to any unexpected urges each day.
Other: Sham-Control fNIRS Neurofeedback · Other: SmartPhone Intervention
Participants will be instructed to use real-time fNIRS neurofeedback to non-invasively regulate neural activation associated with symptoms in individuals with bulimia nervosa. During the training, participants will view images on a computer screen, listen to sounds, and consume a shake.
Participants will be instructed to use sham-control fNIRS neurofeedback to non-invasively regulate neural activation associated with symptoms in individuals with bulimia nervosa. During the training, participants will view images on a computer screen, listen to sounds, and consume a shake.
Over the subsequent 4 weeks, at the specific times when each individual is most likely to engage in eating disorder symptoms, participants will receive personalized messages to use mental strategies from their real-time or their sham-control fNIRS neurofeedback.
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-measured neural activation and connectivity
The investigators will evaluate changes in PFC neural activation and connectivity as a function of neurofeedback.
Time frame: Approximately 6 weeks
Go/no-go task performance
Participants will complete a go/no-go task four times to measure inhibitory control. Participants' behavioral performance on the go/no-go task will be determined by the percentage of incorrect responses made as they are prompted to react to different pictorial stimuli. Participants' percentages of error can range from 0% to 100%. A higher percentage indicates lower behavioral performance on the task.
Time frame: Baseline through study completion, including 1-month follow-up (around 20 weeks)
Loss-of-control eating and compensatory behavior frequencies
Frequency of loss-of-control eating and compensatory episodes in the past 28 days assessed via the EDE-Q. Participants will self-report on how often loss-of-control eating and compensatory episodes occur before and after each phase of intervention (neurofeedback training and 4-week text messaging intervention) and at follow-up.
Time frame: Baseline through study completion, including 1-month follow-up (around 20 weeks)
Eating Loss of Control Severity Subscale Score
Participants will rate the severity of their feelings of loss of control over eating in the past 28 days before and after each phase of intervention (neurofeedback training and 4-week text messaging intervention) and at follow-up on a Likert-type scale from 0-10. Higher score indicates greater severity of loss of control.
Time frame: Baseline through study completion, including 1-month follow-up (around 20 weeks)
Loss-of-control eating and compensatory behavior frequencies
Participants will report how often loss-of-control eating and compensatory episodes occur using electronic surveys throughout each phase of the intervention and at follow-up.
Time frame: Baseline through study completion, including 1-month follow-up (around 20 weeks)
Severity of loss-of-control eating
Participants will rate the severity of their feelings of loss of control over eating throughout each phase of the intervention and at follow-up on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Higher score indicates greater severity of loss of control.
Time frame: Baseline through study completion, including 1-month follow-up (around 20 weeks)
Intensity of urges to eat and binge eat
Participants will rate the intensity of their urges to engage in eating and binge eating using daily electronic surveys before the start of the neurofeedback intervention and after the end of the smartphone intervention on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Higher scores indicate greater intensity.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Intensity of food cravings
Participants will rate the intensity of their food cravings using daily electronic surveys before the start of the neurofeedback intervention and after the end of the smartphone intervention on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Higher scores indicate greater intensity.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Sense of control over behavior in general
Participants will rate their sense of control over their behavior in general using daily electronic surveys before the start of the neurofeedback intervention and after the end of the smartphone intervention on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Lower scores indicate greater control.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Sense of control over eating
Participants will rate their sense of control over their eating using daily electronic surveys before the start of the neurofeedback intervention and after the end of the smartphone intervention on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Lower scores indicate greater control.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Changes in urges to binge eat following strategy use
Participants will rate the effect of prompted or unprompted daily life neurofeedback strategy use on urges to binge eat using daily electronic surveys throughout the smartphone intervention on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Higher scores indicate greater reduction in urges.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Changes in food cravings following strategy use
Participants will rate the effect of prompted or unprompted daily life neurofeedback strategy use on food cravings using daily electronic surveys throughout the smartphone intervention on a Likert-type scale from 1-5. Higher scores indicate greater reduction in cravings.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Changes in sense of control in general following strategy use
Participants will rate changes in their sense of control in general following prompted or unprompted use of neurofeedback strategies in daily life using daily electronic surveys throughout the smartphone intervention on a 1-5 Likert-type scale. Higher scores indicate greater control.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Changes in sense of control over eating following strategy use
Participants will rate changes in their sense of control over eating following prompted or unprompted use of neurofeedback strategies in daily life using daily electronic surveys throughout the smartphone intervention on a 1-5 Likert-type scale. Higher scores indicate greater control.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Prevention and termination of loss-of-control eating episodes following strategy use
Participants will report on prevented or terminated loss-of-control eating episodes following prompted or unprompted use of neurofeedback strategies in daily life using daily electronic surveys throughout the smartphone intervention on a binary (yes/no) response scale.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Prevention of compensatory behaviors following strategy use
Participants will report on the prevention of compensatory behavior engagement following prompted or unprompted use of neurofeedback strategies in daily life using daily electronic surveys throughout the smartphone intervention on a binary (yes/no) response scale.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Plan to share: Yes — Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).
Supporting information: Study protocol
Time frame: Immediately following publication and ending 5 years following article publication.
Access criteria: To maximize the appropriate sharing of scientific data and protect research participants' privacy and confidentiality, all researchers who wish to analyze and publish the data must sign an agreement ensuring that: the requesting institution's IRB or equivalent body has approved the requested use; the dataset will only be used for studying health, medical, or biomedical conditions and does not include the study of population origins or ancestry; the funding agency (One Mind) will be acknowledged appropriately for their financial support of the original data collection. Data are available for 5 years after article publication via direct request to the investigator (laura.berner@mssm.edu).
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai →