Researchers are seeking participants to help them test a  computer game and smartphone app they developed to help people control unhealthy eating habits and ultimately lose weight.

The game is designed to improve a person's "inhibitory control," the part of the brain that stops you from giving into unhealthy cravings -- even when the smell of French fries is practically begging you to step inside a fast food restaurant.

They've also developed a mobile app that intelligently detects patterns in a person's eating habits. When users are likely to slip from their dietary plans, the app provides tailored strategies to put them back on track, they say.

"Millions of people are trying to lose weight, and they are going about it in a reasonable way -- by trying to reduce calories. But you're going to slip from your diet plan. That pretty much happens to everyone," says Evan Forman, a psychology professor at Drexel University. "You could say the secret of helping people actually lose weight is preventing these lapses, so we concentrated on how to best do that,” he adds.

The game is designed to improve a person's "inhibitory control," the part of the brain that stops you from giving into unhealthy cravings -- even when the smell of French fries is practically begging you to step inside a fast food restaurant.

"The study is really the first to attempt to train people for weeks in a row," Forman said. "We think this can translate to real-world behaviors, because just like any task, it improves with practice."
Once the study is complete, the computer game could also be developed into a mobile app, says Forman.