GLP-1 medications may only temporarily suppress brain activity involved in ‘food noise’
A brain-computer interface reveals the medication has a short-term or incomplete effect on related brain activity in a patient with obesity, calling for further study.
2 min. read
A rare glimpse into the brain activity of a patient with obesity and loss of control eating on tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro and Zepbound, reveals that the medication suppresses signaling in the brain’s “reward center” thought to be involved in food noise—but only temporarily.
Research suggests that the medication, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist, originally developed to manage Type 2 diabetes, may be able to treat a wide range of conditions involving impulse control, like binge eating disorder. But although there may be tantalizing clues for helping patients with unwanted impulses, GLP-1 and GIP inhibitors may not be optimally designed to treat them sufficiently and need further research, according to a case study from the Perelman School of Medicine, published in Nature Medicine.
“This study offers major insights into how these drugs may work inside the brain and will guide us as we explore new indications,” says senior author Casey H. Halpern,a professor of neurosurgery, and head of the Division of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. “Until we better understand their action on the brain, it’s far too soon to call GLP-1 and GIP inhibitors miracle drugs for more conditions beyond type 2 diabetes and obesity.”
Even without the diagnosis of BED, up to 60% of people with obesity report experiencing “food noise” or thinking about food constantly which leads to distress and dysregulated eating behaviors, like loss of control eating and binge eating. “Food noise” is also extremely common to treating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and even anorexia nervosa.
“Developing new ways to treat these patients is of the utmost importance,” says Halpern. “While many individuals taking GLP-1 and GIP inhibitors report a reduction in food noise, these medications are not FDA-approved to treat food preoccupation and its related impulsivity. In fact, their impact on human brain activity has only begun to be studied.”
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