Understanding gut feelings and hunger in anorexia nervosa
Official title: A neurocomputational assay of gastrointestinal interoception in anorexia nervosa
Funded at Laureate Institute for Brain Research · NIH-11143232 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work uses a new gut‑sensing test and computer modeling to learn how people with anorexia nervosa perceive hunger and stomach signals.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Laureate Institute for Brain Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tulsa, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $622,536 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH127225-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11143232 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People diagnosed with anorexia nervosa who are willing to come to center visits, undergo stomach‑sensing procedures and brain measurements, and complete follow‑up over 180 days are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without anorexia nervosa or those unable or unwilling to undergo in‑person testing, neuroimaging, stomach stimulation, or follow‑up visits are unlikely to directly benefit from participation.
What this research studies
You would join a group that includes about 65 people with anorexia nervosa and 65 healthy volunteers. During an in-person visit you would experience a novel gastrointestinal interoception probe before a meal while researchers record your symptoms, behavior, stomach signals, and brain activity. The team will apply computational models and machine‑learning methods to link those signals to eating behavior and clinical course. Participants will be followed for 180 days with periodic check-ins to see how the measured markers relate to recovery or symptom change.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify perceptual or brain markers that help predict who is likely to recover and point toward more personalized treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has linked altered interoception to eating disorders, but combining a gastric interoception probe with neurocomputational modeling and machine learning in anorexia nervosa is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Laureate Institute for Brain Research
Tulsa, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Khalsa, Sahib S. — Laureate Institute for Brain Research
- Study coordinator: Khalsa, Sahib S.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.