Federal Grant Award Summary

Sanford Research North received a $442,750 Project Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), awarded March 5, 2026, with completion scheduled for March 4, 2028. This research initiative investigates the specific reward-related processes that maintain Binge-Eating Disorder (BED), the most common and expensive eating disorder in the United States. The project employs dual assessment methodologies—electroencephalography (EEG) to evaluate neural-level food reward processes in laboratory settings and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to capture naturalistic data—to systematically evaluate the relative contributions of food reward wanting, liking, and learning to BED persistence.

The research deliverables include comprehensive scientific analysis identifying which specific reward mechanisms (wanting, liking, or learning) serve as primary maintenance factors in BED, with findings intended to guide the development of novel or enhanced clinical interventions. By examining the concurrent associations between binge-eating symptoms and food reward processes using both neural and naturalistic assessment approaches, this project addresses a critical gap in understanding BED etiology and treatment mechanisms. The work is aligned with the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework and builds upon preliminary evidence suggesting multiple reward pathways contribute to binge-eating persistence, positioning the findings to advance treatment innovation for this high-burden psychiatric condition.