Researchers are testing whether playing special online games can train your brain to make better food choices. The study involves 500 adults who will play games designed to help them prefer fruits and vegetables while avoiding unhealthy snacks like candy and fried foods. Half the participants will play the brain-training games twice a week for 8 weeks, while the other half will play games with flowers and birds as a comparison. Scientists will measure whether the training actually changes what people eat and how much they value healthy foods. If it works, this approach could help millions of people improve their diets through an easy-to-use website.

The Quick Take

  • What they studied: Whether playing online brain-training games can help adults make healthier food choices and prefer fruits and vegetables over junk food
  • Who participated: 500 American adults aged 18-70 with normal to slightly overweight body types, recruited online through a screening process
  • Key finding: This is a protocol paper describing a study in progress (as of June 2025, 630 people had enrolled and started the program), so final results aren’t available yet. The study is designed to test whether the brain games actually work.
  • What it means for you: If successful, this could offer a free or low-cost online tool to help you naturally prefer healthier foods without willpower alone. However, results won’t be known until the study is completed.

The Research Details

This is a randomized controlled trial, which is considered one of the most reliable types of research. Researchers randomly assigned participants to two groups: one group plays special brain-training games, while the other group plays games with nature images as a comparison. The brain-training games are designed to teach your brain to respond quickly to pictures of healthy foods and to stop responding to pictures of unhealthy foods. This happens through repeated practice over 8 weeks, with participants playing at least twice per week.

Before and after the 8-week training period, researchers measure two things: how well people’s brains perform on the games (their executive function, which is the ability to make conscious, controlled decisions) and what people actually eat in their daily lives. They use computer games to test brain function and food diaries or dietary surveys to measure eating habits.

The study uses a rigorous statistical approach to analyze results, including both an intention-to-treat analysis (counting everyone who started) and a completer analysis (counting only those who finished the training properly). This helps researchers understand whether the program works for people who stick with it and for everyone who tries it.

Executive function is your brain’s ability to make conscious, deliberate choices rather than acting on impulse. Many people struggle with food choices because they make quick, automatic decisions based on cravings rather than thinking through what’s healthy. By training executive function specifically around food, researchers hope to help people’s brains naturally prefer healthier options. This approach is different from typical diets because it targets the underlying brain processes that control eating behavior.

This study has several strengths: it uses random assignment (which reduces bias), includes a control group for comparison, involves a large sample size (500 participants), and uses objective measurements of brain function. However, as a protocol paper, the actual results aren’t yet available. The study has already experienced some challenges—386 of 630 enrolled participants dropped out, mostly due to not following the training schedule. This suggests that keeping people engaged with online programs can be difficult. The study’s quality will ultimately depend on how many people complete the full 8 weeks of training and whether the results show real differences between groups.

What the Results Show

This paper is a protocol (a detailed plan) rather than a results paper, so final findings are not yet available. As of June 1, 2025, the study was still recruiting and training participants. The researchers had successfully enrolled 630 people out of 899 applicants, meaning about 70% of people who applied completed the enrollment process.

However, the study has faced a significant challenge with participant dropout. Of the 630 people who started, 386 have already withdrawn from the study. Most of these withdrawals (88.6%) were due to people not completing the required training sessions at least twice per week. This suggests that maintaining consistent engagement with online brain-training programs is challenging for many people.

The study is designed to measure whether the brain-training games improve two main outcomes: (1) how well people’s brains perform on tests of decision-making and attention, and (2) whether people actually eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer unhealthy snacks. The researchers will also look at whether men and women respond differently to the training.

Beyond the main outcomes, the researchers are also interested in understanding how improvements in brain function relate to changes in eating behavior. They want to know whether training attention (focusing on healthy foods) is more important than training inhibition (avoiding unhealthy foods), or whether both are equally important. The study will also examine whether the web-based platform could be adapted to help with other health behaviors, such as increasing physical activity or reducing sitting time.

This study builds on earlier research showing that executive function is connected to eating behavior. Previous studies have suggested that people with stronger executive function tend to make healthier food choices. However, most previous research was observational—researchers simply measured whether people with better executive function ate better, without testing whether training executive function actually causes people to eat better. This randomized controlled trial is designed to answer that causal question by directly training executive function and measuring whether eating behavior improves as a result.

Several important limitations should be noted: First, this is a protocol paper, not a results paper, so we don’t yet know if the approach actually works. Second, the high dropout rate (61% of enrolled participants) suggests that the final results may only reflect people who are highly motivated to complete online training, which may not represent the general population. Third, the study only lasts 8 weeks, so we don’t know whether any benefits would last longer than that. Fourth, the study measures eating through self-report (people telling researchers what they eat), which can be inaccurate. Finally, the study focuses on adults aged 18-70 with relatively healthy body weights, so results may not apply to other age groups or people with obesity.

The Bottom Line

This is a promising research approach, but recommendations cannot be made yet because the study is still in progress and results are not available. Once the study is completed, we’ll know whether brain-training games actually help people eat healthier. In the meantime, if you’re interested in improving your food choices, traditional approaches like meal planning, keeping healthy foods visible and accessible, and practicing mindful eating have stronger evidence behind them. Moderate confidence: Wait for final results before making decisions based on this research.

This research is most relevant to adults aged 18-70 who struggle with making healthy food choices and want to try a technology-based solution. It may be particularly interesting to people who prefer digital tools over traditional dieting approaches. However, the high dropout rate suggests this approach requires significant commitment and may not work for everyone. People with severe eating disorders or those taking medications that affect appetite should consult healthcare providers before trying any new approach to eating behavior.

The study involves 8 weeks of training, with the expectation that changes in brain function and eating behavior would be measurable within that timeframe. However, this doesn’t mean you’d see dramatic weight loss or complete dietary transformation in 8 weeks. More modest changes in food preferences and eating patterns would be the realistic expectation. Long-term benefits beyond 8 weeks are unknown.

Want to Apply This Research?

  • Track the frequency of choosing fruits and vegetables versus unhealthy snacks daily. Set a specific goal, such as ’eat vegetables with 5 out of 7 meals this week’ and log each instance in the app. This creates a measurable baseline to compare against after completing a brain-training program.
  • If this program becomes available, users could complete 2-3 short brain-training game sessions per week (about 10-15 minutes each) through the app, then log their food choices daily. The app could send reminders to complete training sessions and provide feedback on whether their food choices are improving over time.
  • Set up weekly check-ins where the app compares your current week’s healthy food choices to the previous week. Track both the number of servings of fruits and vegetables consumed and the number of unhealthy snacks eaten. After 8 weeks, compare your overall patterns to your baseline to see if the training made a difference.

This paper describes a research study that is still in progress and has not yet published final results. The findings discussed are based on the study protocol and enrollment data only, not on actual outcomes. This information is for educational purposes and should not be used to make health decisions. Anyone considering changes to their diet or eating behavior should consult with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian. This research has not been proven effective yet, and individual results may vary. Do not delay or replace professional medical advice with information from this study.