Obesity-Related Alternative Medicine Modalities and Neuroimaging

Call for Papers

Obesity has become a serious world-wide epidemic and a cause of the leading global health problems. However, much of the current debate on the etiology of obesity has been attributed to abnormal eating behavior, personal characteristics, depression, addiction, or genetics. Accumulating evidence has shown that there are a number of shared neural and hormonal pathways as well as distinct differences in these pathways that may help researchers discover why certain individuals continue to overeat despite health problems and other consequences and become more and more obese. Functional neuroimaging studies have further revealed that great-tasting food has reinforcing characteristics similar to drugs of abuse. Novel research paradigms are needed that may allow screening of new pharmacological treatment on the basis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other imaging modalities. Acupuncture, as well as other Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment protocols, is needed to cure or curb obesity and related health issues.

We encourage original or review manuscript submissions relating to new insights on mechanisms using neuroimaging and/or alternative medicine treatment methods related to obesity, food addiction, and eating disorders. We are particularly interested in fMRI research pertaining to acupuncture and appetite regulation as well as research on effective acupuncture protocols for weight loss. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Use of traditional medicine as a coadjuvant in the treatment of obesity
• Recent developments in acupuncture treatments for weight loss
• Novel neuroimaging methods for the mechanisms of obesity
• Neuroimaging protocols for studying regulation of hunger and appetite
• Neuroimaging modalities for food addiction
• Prader-Willi syndrome and Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments
• Functional connectivity studies relating to obesity-related addictions
• Recent developments in acupuncture treatments for weight loss

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ecam/obes/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Karen M. von Deneen, Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Shaanxi, Xi’an 710071, China

Guest Editors

• Jie Tian, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhong Guancun East Road No. 95, P.O. Box 2728, Beijing 100190, China
• Yijun Liu, Department of Psychiatry, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, 100 Newell Drive, P.O. Box 100256, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA