Editorial: neurocognitive and translational science of binge eating: understanding mechanisms of change

Binge eating was initially described in 1959 by Albert Stunkard as an eating pattern associate with obesity (Stunkard, 1959). The major components of a binge are eating an objectively large amount of food and a feeling of loss of control over eating. However, growing evidence suggest that binge eating may also be associated with the ingestion of smaller amounts of foods (Palavras et al., 2013). Currently, episodes of binge eating are incorporated as diagnostic criterion of eating disorders in DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and ICD-11(World Health Organisation, 2018). But recurrent binge eating episodes (RBE) in people without full-fledged criteria for an ED have clinical significance and are considered an increasing problem in the general population (Munschet al., 2007; Appolinario et al., 2022).