# The Computational Role of Corticostriatal Circuits in Binge-Eating Disorder Symptoms and Severity

> **NIH NIH R21** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2024 · $211,250

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Binge-eating disorder (BED) is more common than any other eating disorder in the US and is associated with
high rates of medical morbidity, disability, and suicidality. As roughly half of patients with BED remain
symptomatic after current first-line treatments, there is a critical need to identify brain-based factors that
perpetuate BED symptoms and that may serve as mechanistic targets for novel treatments. Current theoretical
models posit that the recurrent, distressing, and out-of-control overeating that characterizes BED arises after a
transition from ventral to dorsal corticostriatal circuit control over decision-making, and a corresponding shift
from goal-oriented to habitual behavior. However, individuals with BED present with a co-occurrence of
seemingly contradictory decision-making problems—impulsivity and perseveration—and a wide range of
binge-eating severity. Neurobiological research to date has failed to account for this within-person combination
of cognitive deficits or this between-person variability in symptoms. The goal of this R21 project is to test a
neurocomputational model of BED that provides a more comprehensive account of symptoms and severity.
This model expands on previous theories and links behavior to effective connectivity in corticostriatal circuits
underlying decision-making. Specifically, the proposed study combines computational modeling of behavior
with dynamic causal modeling (DCM) of neural connectivity to examine whether aberrant within- and between-
circuit dynamics relate to cognitive and clinical symptom profiles in BED. We will compare effective connectivity
of 28 adults with BED to that of 28 group-matched healthy controls during two decision-making paradigms. We
will test two overarching predictions that are informed by our simulations of corticostriatal circuit dynamics and
associated behavior: 1) In individuals with BED, aberrant within-circuit dynamics, specifically overstability (high
“gain”) within dorsal and ventral corticostriatal circuits, result in overweighting of initial evidence (leading to
impulsivity) and promote choice selections that are insensitive to changes in the environment (perseveration);
2) In individuals with BED, aberrant between-circuit dynamics, specifically an over-influence of one
corticostriatal circuit on the other (dorsal on ventral or vice-versa), promote more severe binge eating. These
model predictions can explain the impulsive, out-of-control initiation of binge eating, why individuals with BED
continue to binge eat despite fullness and distress (i.e., perseverate), and why some individuals with BED are
more likely than others to more frequently initiate binge eating episodes. As such, data from this proof-of-
concept pilot study will substantiate a novel neurocomputational model of BED symptoms and characterize
alterations in neural circuit dynamics, not just neural activation, in BED. In addition, the data will support a
future R01 applicat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10747430
- **Project number:** 5R21MH129898-02
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura A. Berner
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $211,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-12-01 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10747430

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10747430, The Computational Role of Corticostriatal Circuits in Binge-Eating Disorder Symptoms and Severity (5R21MH129898-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-06 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10747430. Licensed CC0.

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