Breakthrough Study Reveals How Obesity Drugs like Zepatide Calm Compulsive Food Cravings
PHILADELPHIA, PA – In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have directly observed how blockbuster obesity drugs mimicking the hormone GLP-1, such as zepatide (marketed as Mounjaro or Zepbound), impact brain activity and suppress the intense, intrusive thoughts about food known as “food noise.” The findings, published today in Nature Medicine1, offer a crucial neurological insight into how thes medications curb extreme cravings.
The research team, led by neurosurgeon-scientist Casey Halpern at the University of Pennsylvania, initially aimed to test deep brain stimulation as a treatment for compulsive eating in individuals for whom other options, like bariatric surgery, had failed. Participants were implanted with electrodes in the nucleus accumbens – a brain region involved in reward and known to express the GLP-1 receptor.
However, a serendipitous chance arose when the third participant, a 60-year-old woman, began taking a high dose of tirzepatide, prescribed for type 2 diabetes, shortly before electrode implantation. Researchers then observed a significant change.
Prior to the medication, episodes of intense food noise in the first two participants were accompanied by a surge in low-frequency brain activity, establishing a measurable neurological signature for compulsive food cravings.But in the third participant, after starting tirzepatide, this pattern was notably diminished. The medication appeared to quiet the “food noise” by altering the electrical signals in the brain.
“it’s a great strategy to try and find a neural signature of food noise, and then try to understand how drugs can manipulate it,” says Amber Alhadeff, a neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
christian Hölscher,a neuroscientist at the Henan academy of innovations in Medical Science in Zhengzhou,China,highlighted the importance of the nucleus accumbens,noting,”so we know that GLP-1 plays a role in modulating reward here.”
The study represents a significant step forward in understanding the neurological mechanisms behind obesity and the effectiveness of GLP-1 mimicking drugs.
