Dr. Laura Berner

“Training the brain’s self-control center to stop binge-purge cycles—bringing new hope for lasting recovery in eating disorders.”

Bulimia nervosa (BN) is a common, serious eating disorder marked by cycles of binge eating and purging that can cause severe health complications. While existing treatments help some, more than half of patients continue to experience symptoms, underscoring the need for new approaches. Dr. Berner’s project targets the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC)—a key brain region for self-control—through an innovative combination of wearable neurofeedback and personalized smartphone interventions. In the lab, participants will use real-time brain imaging to learn strategies for increasing vlPFC activity while exposed to binge-triggering foods. These strategies will then be reinforced in daily life via text messages during participants’ most vulnerable moments. Computational modeling will help identify the most effective techniques. This is the first study to extend neurofeedback training for BN into real-world contexts, aiming to reduce binge/purge behaviors while advancing understanding of the disorder’s neural mechanisms.

Laura Berner’s Bio

Laura Berner, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she directs the Center for Computational Psychiatry and the Neuroscience of Eating and Associated Pathology Research Program. She is also a principal investigator in the Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders and co-chairs the Eating Disorders working group for the ENIGMA Consortium, a global brain imaging initiative. Dr. Berner earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and behavioral neuroscience from Princeton University, her PhD in clinical psychology from Drexel University, and she completed postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging at UC San Diego. Her research investigates the brain, cognitive, and hormonal mechanisms that drive extreme eating behaviors, with a focus on how self-regulatory control breaks down in eating disorders. Using tools such as neuroimaging, neuroendocrine measures, computational modeling, and real-time symptom assessment, she aims to build new models of eating disorder symptoms and translate them into targeted, scalable interventions. Her work is funded by the NIH, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and other leading organizations.