Modulation of Body Mass Composition using Vestibular Nerve Stimulation

There is increasing evidence of a “set-point” for body weight in the brain, that is regulated by the hypothalamus. This system modifies feeding behavior and metabolic rate, to keep body fat within predetermined parameters. It is also known that animals subjected to chronic centrifugation show a reduction in body fat. Experiments with mutant mice found that this loss of fat appears to be mediated by a vestibulo-hypothalamic pathway. Vestibular nerve stimulation (VeNS), also known as galvanic vestibular stimulation, involves non-invasively stimulating the vestibular system by applying a small electrical current between two electrodes placed over the mastoid processes. We suggest that any means of repeatedly stimulating the otolith organs in humans would cause a reduction in total body fat, and that VeNS would be a useful technique to use in this regard. Below we provide pilot data to support this idea.