Eating disorders are a group of psychiatric conditions that involve pathological relationships between patients and food. The most prolific of these disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. The current standard of care involves psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and the management of comorbid conditions, with nutritional rehabilitation reserved for severe cases of anorexia nervosa. Unfortunately, many patients often fail to respond, leaving a concerning treatment gap between the current and requisite treatments for eating disorders. To better understand the neurobiology underlying these eating disorders, investigations have been undertaken to characterize the activity of various neural networks, primarily those activated during tasks of executive inhibition, reward processing, and self-reference. Various neuromodulatory techniques have been proposed to stimulate these networks with the goal of improving patients’ BMI and mental health. The aim of this review is to compile a comprehensive summarization of the current literature regarding the underlying neural connectivity of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder as well as the numerous neuromodulatory modalities that have been investigated. Importantly, we aimed to summarize the most significant clinical trials to date as well as to provide an updated assessment of the role of deep brain stimulation, summarizing numerous recently published clinical studies that have greatly contributed to the literature. In this review, we found therapeutic evidence for transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation in treating individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. We also found significant evidence for the role of deep brain stimulation, particularly as an escalatory therapy option for the those who failed standard therapy. Finally, we hope to provide promising directions for future clinical investigations.

The mammalian visual system is one of the most well-studied brain systems. Visual information from the retina is relayed to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGd). The LGd then projects topographically to primary visual cortex (VISp) to mediate visual perception. In this view, the VISp is a critical network hub where visual information must traverse LGd-VISp circuits to reach higher-order ‘extrastriate’ visual cortices. However, decades of conflicting reports in a variety of mammals support or refute the existence of extrastriate LGd connections that can bypass the VISp. Here, we provide evidence of bidirectional extrastriate connectivity with the mouse LGd. Using small, discrete coinjections of anterograde and retrograde tracers within the thalamus and cortex, our cross-validated approach identified bidirectional thalamocortical connectivity between LGd and extrastriate visual cortices. Our findings support the existence of extrastriate LGd circuits and provide novel understanding of LGd organization in rodent visual system.