The ERP Study On The Effect Of Prefrontal Noninvasive Stimulation Intervention On Response Inhibition To Food Cues In College Students

Background: Long-term exposure to the environment of delicious food,in order to satisfy the pleasure of eating,individuals tend to choose delicious and unhealthy food,and then over-eating behavior occurs.Past research has shown that overeating behaviors can have negative health effects,such as obesity.According to the goal conflict model,it is believed that an individual has two conflicting goals—hedonic goal and dieting goal.The hedonic impulse to eat can be alleviated by the individual’s strong response inhibition ability,and the strength of the dieting goal reflects the individual’s response inhibition ability.Therefore,improving individual response inhibition performance is the key to improving individual unhealthy food choices.Compared with past interventions,the emerging technology of non-invasive stimulation,intermittent rapid burst stimulation,has greater advantages,which can generate more effective and longer-lasting cortical excitability.Methods: Experiment 1 used iTBS technology to stimulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of 8 healthy males for three times(intervention time interval of 15 minutes,stimulation intensity: 80% RMT),and the subjects randomly received true and false stimulation to explore whether iTBS could stimulate the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex.Increases the response inhibition rate of individuals under high-calorie food cues.Experiment 2 further divided 51 subjects into three groups randomly: baseline group(N=17),true stimulation group(N=17),and pseudo-stimulation group(N=17).After lobe cortex(intervention time interval of 15 minutes,stimulation intensity: 80% RMT),and combined with ERP to explore the changes in brain neural activity during the improvement of individual response inhibition,as well as the changes in the scores of attraction and liking of high and low calorie foods before and after the intervention.Results: Results of Experiment 1: After iTBS stimulated the subjects’ right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,under the true stimulation condition,the subjects’ response inhibition speed was significantly improved(the SSRT was significantly reduced,and the correct inhibition rate P was significantly increased)under the high-calorie food picture cue.The difference was not significant under the pseudo-stimulation condition.Results of experiment 2: After iTBS stimulated the subjects’ right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,the subjects in the real stimulation group had a significant increase in response inhibition speed(SSRT was significantly reduced)under the cue of high-calorie food pictures,and the attractiveness of high-calorie food pictures before and after the real stimulation Likelihood scores were significantly lower,however not significantly different between baseline and sham conditions.Under the true stimulus condition,compared with low-calorie food cues,subjects were exposed to higher-calorie food cues and neutral food cues evoked larger P3 amplitudes,but there was no significant difference in N2 amplitudes.Conclusion: iTBS stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can improve the individual’s response inhibition speed,enhance the individual’s brain activity level in the response inhibition prefrontal-central part,and reduce the choice of high-calorie food.