Brain hack: the quest for new treatments for eating disorders

A project using rTMS, a form of brain stimulation therapy, has shown encouraging early results

In a dark, nondescript room tucked away in the depths of a London research centre, Lucy Gallop is demonstrating how we might treat eating disorders in future.

Improbably, she presses on a pedal under a desk, like a driver pulling away in first gear. Magnetic pulses pass through an electromagnetic coil which is held to a patient's head. Clicking sounds fill the room and the patient's neural activity is temporarily altered over the course of a few minutes.