Obesity is associated with progressive brain structural changes
Authors' conclusion
These findings suggest that changes in gray matter volume in individuals with OB may originate from reward/motivation processing regions, subsequently progressing to inhibitory control/learning memory regions, providing a new reference direction for clinical intervention and treatment of OB.
Study context
- Population
- Participants with overweight (OW) or obesity (OB) and participants with normal weight undergoing T1-weighted MRI
- Participants
- 258 vs 74
- Exposure
- OW or OB vs normal weight
- OW or OBn = 258
- Normal weightn = 74reference
- Outcome
- Brain structural changes (gray matter volume) with OB progression
Methodological detailscausal structural covariance network analysis
- Causal structural covariance network analysis
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Gray matter volume reductions with increasing BMI
- Reductions originated in left caudate nucleus, medial orbitofrontal cortex and left insula, expanded to right hippocampus and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, then to right parahippocampal gyrus, left precuneus and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
- p < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Obesity is associated with progressive brain structural changes. Obesity (Silver Spring). Published 2 March 2025. doi:10.
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