How cortical thickness associates with BMI. Body mass index relates positively...
How cortical thickness associates with BMI. Body mass index relates positively with cortical thickness in blue areas, and negatively with cortical thickness in red areas.

Credit: Uku Vainik

News • Research

Link between obesity, the brain, and genetics

Clinicians should consider how the way we think can make us vulnerable to obesity, and how obesity is genetically intertwined with brain structure and mental performance, according to new research. The study, led by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), was an examination of MRI and cognitive test data from 1,200 individuals, supplied as part of the Human Connectome Project.

Researchers found that people with higher a body mass index (BMI) showed reduced cognitive flexibility, ability to delay gratification, visuospatial ability and verbal memory. They also found that people with increased BMI tended to have a thicker left prefrontal cortex and a thinner right prefrontal cortex. Previous studies have shown damage to the right prefrontal cortex can lead to increased eating.

Subjects with higher BMI also had increased volume in the left amygdala, which is believed to play a role in response to food cues. They also had decreased volume in the entorhinal-parahippocampal structures, which are associated with episodic memory and context mediation. This suggests a model where people prone to obesity are more sensitive to visual food cues, and less able to resist them by considering the negative context of eating, like weight gain.

Many of the subjects were siblings, including fraternal and identical twins. This allowed researchers to determine the heritability of the traits as well as obesity, measured by BMI. Using statistical methods, researchers found that many of the cognitive and neurological traits have genetic links with obesity. This suggests the role genetics play in obesity is manifested at least partially through brain anatomy and cognitive functions.

"This research will be useful in developing interventions to help people with obesity," says study's lead author, Uku Vainik, a researcher at The Neuro and the Institute of Psychology at University of Tartu, Estonia. "Modifying neurobehavioural factors with cognitive training, to improve people's ability to resist food, for example, could hold promise. Interventions shouldn't just focus on diet, but also acknowledge the neurobehavioural profile that obesity is genetically intertwined with. Such interventions might help people to stay lean despite their genetic signature."

"This work adds support to the theory that body weight in humans is partly under control of higher-level brain systems involved in cognition, decision-making and motivation," says Dr. Alain Dagher, the paper's senior author. "Furthermore, individual differences in these brain systems that regulate food intake appear to be moderately heritable."

Source:  McGill University

31.08.2018

Read all latest stories

Related articles

Photo

News • Map

How the brain is organized

The age of exploration has long passed, but there is at least one area still largely uncharted: the human brain. Now, a detailed new map by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in…

Photo

News • Genetics & Neuroscience

Research investigates the convergence of schizophrenia risk genes in brain coexpression networks

Johns Hopkins researchers, along with colleagues in Italy, have published a study that looks into the genetic mechanisms behind the development of schizophrenia.

Photo

News • Understanding the mechanisms

New ultrafast fMRI technique to improve brain stimulation

Researchers from Queensland have developed a new fMRI technique with vastly increased temporal resolutions, enabling them to capture the dynamics of brain activity at a sub-second level.

Related products

Magnetom Amira

1.5 Tesla

Siemens Healthineers · Magnetom Amira

Siemens Healthcare GmbH
32 Inch Height-Adjustable MRI LED Screen

Accessories / Complementary Systems

allMRI · 32 Inch Height-Adjustable MRI LED Screen

allMRI GmbH
Accutron MR

Injectors

Medtron AG · Accutron MR

MEDTRON AG
Accutron MR3

Injectors

Medtron AG · Accutron MR3

MEDTRON AG
Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine for MR

Artificial Intelligence

Canon · Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine for MR

Canon Medical Systems Europe B.V.
Airis Vento Plus

Open

Fujifilm · Airis Vento Plus

FUJIFILM Europe GmbH
Subscribe to Newsletter