Background: Existing treatments for adults with anorexia nervosa (AN) have limited proven efficacy. New treatments that have
been suggested involve targeted, brain-directed interventions such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).We describe
findings from seven individuals with treatment-resistant AN who received 10 sessions of anodal tDCS, over the left dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex (DLPFC).
Material and method: In this open-label, single-arm study, seven patients received anodal tDCS (2mA) for 25 minutes over
the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex daily for ten days. Assessments pre-tDCS, post-tDCS and one month later included the
Eating Attitude Test (EAT), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
Results: Three patients improved in all three rating scales immediately after the treatment sessions and one month later. Two
patients showed improvement at the end of treatment but returned to the baseline after one month. One subject improved only on
the BDI scale but not eating scales. The scores in the three rating scales were unaffected by treatment in the remaining patient.
There was a significant effect of time (pre, post and 1 month later) on the three rating scores; BDI (P = 0.016), EDI (P = 0.018)
and EAT (P = 0.016) and a significant correlation between the percent improvement of BDI and EAT (p = 0.01), and between
BDI and EDI (P = 0.006).
Conclusions: These findings suggest that tDCS has potential as an adjuvant treatment for AN and deserves further study.