Longitudinal assessment of brain structure and behaviour in youth with rapid weight gain: Potential contributing causes and consequences
Authors' conclusion
These findings suggest that brain structure in pre-adolescence may predispose some to rapid weight gain and that weight gain itself may alter maturational brain change in regions important for food intake and impulsivity. Behavioural interventions that target inhibitory control may improve trajectories of brain maturation and facilitate healthier behaviours.
Study context
- Population
- Pre-adolescents aged 9-to-10-years-old in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study; 63% of Weight Gainers (WG) were healthy weight at baseline
- Participants
- 221 vs 527
- Exposure
- Weight Gainers vs Healthy Weight/Weight Stable youth
- WGn = 221
- WSHWn = 527reference
- Outcome
- Baseline brain structure predicting 2-year rapid weight gain
- Follow-up
- 9-to-10-years-old
Methodological detailsfivefold cross-validated logistic elastic-net regression
- Fivefold cross-validated logistic elastic-net regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Rapid weight gain associated with structural variation in brain features in regions of executive functioning, appetitive control and reward sensitivity
39 brain features
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Brain structure change and impulsivity · Two years later
- WG youth showed differences in change over time in several of these regions
- WG youth performed worse on measures of impulsivity
Original publication
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →