The Effectiveness of rTMS on Improving Food Craving and Weight Control in Adults Without Serious Mental Illness

NCT07106398 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: UW 25-282
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Department of Psychiatry \| Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong The Effectiveness of rTMS on Improving Food Cravings and Weight Control in Adults without Serious Mental Illness Introduction The investigators would like to invite participants to participate in an observational study on the efficacy of using magnetic fields to improve food cravings and weight control in adults without serious mental illness. The research leader is Dr. Cheng Pak Wing, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Queen Mary Hospital/HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine. Please read the following information carefully. If necessary, participants can discuss it with relatives, friends or doctors. If anything is unclear, or if participants would like more information, please ask us. Please carefully consider whether participants are willing to participate in this research. Research Purpose Food cravings are a common experience that can significantly impact an individual's mental and physical health. These intense desires for specific foods often lead to overconsumption of unhealthy foods, contributing to obesity, poor nutritional intake, and associated health conditions. Understanding the neural mechanisms behind food cravings is crucial for developing effective interventions to manage them. rTMS is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses magnetic fields to modulate neural activity in targeted brain regions. Over the years, rTMS has shown promise in treating various mental health conditions, including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and eating disorders. Research Methods Participants Healthy adults aged 18-65 with self-reported food cravings or weight control issues. Treatment protocol Six sessions of rTMS using the EXOMIND™ device, administered once or twice a week. Each session will deliver 6,300 pulses at alternating frequencies of 12, 15, and 18 Hz, with a total duration of 24 minutes and 30 seconds. The target site would be left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), determined by the most common used 5-cm rule. The procedure would be conducted in the research centre with medical staff supported. A checklist of potential adverse effects from TMS administration will be referenced from existing literature to monitor tolerability and adverse events during each session. Blood pressure and heart rate will be recorded at the beginning and end of each session. Assessment Participants will be assessed at three time points: baseline (pre-intervention), post-intervention, and four weeks post-intervention. Assessments: Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and BMI. Demographics: Age, gender, years of education, place of birth, marital status, number of children, financial condition, household income, family history of eating problems will be collected upon study entry. Medical history in relation to mental illnesses and medications will also be assessed.

Conditions

Food Cravings; rTMS

Keywords

rtms; food cravings; healthy adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T)

  Using Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T) to measure level of food cravings. The questionnaire consists of 23 questions, participants are required to rate the frequency of each statement with a 6-likert scale. By summing up the scores of the scles, higher scores represent higher level of food cravings.

  Baseline: 1-week before rTMS intervention starts Post-intervention: 1-week after the last session of rTMS intervention 4-week post-intervention: 4-week after the last session of rTMS intervention

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)

  Baseline: 1-week before rTMS intervention starts Post-intervention: 1-week immediately after the last session of rTMS intervention 4-week post-intervention: 4-week after the last session of rTMS intervention

• Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

  Baseline: 1-week before rTMS intervention starts Post-intervention: 1-week immediately after the last session of rTMS intervention 4-week post-intervention: 4-week after the last session of rTMS intervention

• BMI

  Baseline: the day the rTMS intervention starts Post-intervention: the day the last session rTMS intervention

Study Arms (1)

healthy adults

EXPERIMENTAL

Healthy adults aged 18-65 Self-reported food craving or weight control issues

Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Interventions

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation DEVICE

Six sessions of rTMS using the EXOMIND™ device, administered once or twice a week. Each session will deliver 6,300 pulses at alternating frequencies of 12, 15, and 18 Hz, with a total duration of 24 minutes and 30 seconds. The target site would be left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), determined by the most common used 5-cm rule. The procedure would be conducted in the research centre with medical staff supported.

healthy adults

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Healthy adults
• Aged between 18-65
• Self-reported food craving or weight control issues

You may not qualify if:

• People with serious mental illness
• Severe neurological conditions
• Contraindications for rTMS
• People on weight-reduction medications

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong: lead

Study Sites (1)

Sassoon Road Campus, HKU

Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

Related Publications (4)

• Dalton B, Maloney E, Rennalls SJ, Bartholdy S, Kekic M, McClelland J, Campbell IC, Schmidt U, O'Daly OG. A pilot study exploring the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment on cerebral blood flow and its relation to clinical outcomes in severe enduring anorexia nervosa. J Eat Disord. 2021 Jul 9;9(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s40337-021-00420-w.

  PMID: 34243816 BACKGROUND

• Fitzsimmons SMDD, van der Werf YD, van Campen AD, Arns M, Sack AT, Hoogendoorn AW; other members of the TETRO Consortium; van den Heuvel OA. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review and pairwise/network meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2022 Apr 1;302:302-312. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.048. Epub 2022 Jan 15.

  PMID: 35041869 BACKGROUND

• Voineskos D, Blumberger DM, Rogasch NC, Zomorrodi R, Farzan F, Foussias G, Rajji TK, Daskalakis ZJ. Neurophysiological effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in treatment resistant depression. Clin Neurophysiol. 2021 Sep;132(9):2306-2316. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2021.05.008. Epub 2021 Jun 1.

  PMID: 34167891 BACKGROUND

• Sabe M, Hyde J, Cramer C, Eberhard A, Crippa A, Brunoni AR, Aleman A, Kaiser S, Baldwin DS, Garner M, Sentissi O, Fiedorowicz JG, Brandt V, Cortese S, Solmi M. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Across Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 May 1;7(5):e2412616. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.12616.

  PMID: 38776083 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Magnetic Field Therapy; Therapeutics

Central Study Contacts

Pak Wing Cheng

CONTACT

85290169487; chengpsy@hku.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Clinical Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 21, 2025
• First Posted: August 6, 2025
• Study Start: July 4, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 27, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 27, 2028
• Last Updated: August 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)