Exercise Effects on Stress-related Eating in Veterans

This study is looking at how exercise affects the brain's response to stress and food cues in veterans who are overweight or obese. You might be able to join if you are a veteran between 18 and 75 years old, have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher, are not physically active, and can attend study visits in Aurora, CO. You cannot join if you are pregnant, have had bariatric surgery, have an eating disorder, or are taking medications that change your appetite. The study will measure changes in your brain's activity when you see food pictures (using fMRI, a type of brain scan) and your body's stress hormone (cortisol) levels after a thinking task. The study's status is currently unclear.

Study design
This is an interventional study planning to enroll 132 participants. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a usual activities group.
What's involved
You would complete two study days before and two study days after a 12-week period. If in the exercise group, you would complete exercise sessions four times per week during this 12-week period.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Your brain activity and cortisol levels will be measured at the beginning of the study and again after 12 weeks.

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NCT06627569

Exercise Effects on the Neurobiology Underlying Stress-related Eating Behaviors in Veterans

Not Yet Recruiting
NAAges 18–75Interventional
VA Office of Research and Development
~132 participants
Updated 2026-08-24 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Exercise

At a glance

Recruiting sites
0 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Percent change in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to visual food cues as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Measured over Baseline, 12 weeks
+1 more outcome measured
Overweight/Obesity
Stress
1 sites across 1 states
Colorado1
  • Kristina T. Legget, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO

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Do you actually qualify for this trial?

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Veteran
Body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater
Physically inactive
Able to attend study visits in person in Aurora, CO

Exclusion

Currently pregnant
History of bariatric surgery
Current eating disorder
Current treatment with appetite-altering medications (e.g., glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists)
Contraindication to MRI (weight \> 500 pounds (lbs); claustrophobia; metal or electronic devices in the body)
Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, pulmonary disease, or diabetes
Unable to exercise due to cardiac, pulmonary, neurologic, or orthopedic reasons
  • Percent change in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to visual food cues as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)Baseline, 12 weeks

    Percent change in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response from baseline to after the 12-week intervention period while viewing visual food cues. The primary contrast of interest is the comparison of high-calorie food images to nonfood object images.

  • Change in serum cortisol response to counting taskBaseline, 12 weeks

    Change from baseline to after the 12-week intervention period in serum cortisol levels (micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL)) throughout a counting task involving mental math (measured as area under the curve).