Higher levels of body fat are associated with differences in the brain’s form and structure, based off of analysis of brain scan images obtained using sophisticated MRI technology. The results, published recently in the journal Radiology, deepen the understanding of obesity’s effects on the brain.
The study involved collection of brain imaging results from over 12,000 individuals in a UK Biobank study, a major trial that started in 2006 to learn more about genetic and environmental factors that influence disease.
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Analysis of the images revealed that higher total body fat percentage in men was correlated with lower gray matter volume overall and in specific structures involved in reward circuitry and movement. In women, higher total body fat was observed to significantly reduce the volume of the globus pallidus, a structure involved in voluntary movement. In both men and women, higher total body fat percentage increased the likelihood of microscopic changes to the brain’s white matter.
While the effects of these findings are not yet fully clear, changes in gray matter suggest loss of neurons and changes in the white matter could negatively affect transmission of signals in brain networks. The smaller subcortical grey matter volumes are also known to play a role in the food-reward circuitry, which would potentially make it even more difficult for obese people to control their weight.
This study offers more insights into obesity’s effects on the brain, but much is yet to be determined. The mechanism behind obesity’s adverse effects on the brain are not well-understood, though some evidence suggests low-grade inflammation could be to blame. The study also did not distinguish between different fat types, such as visceral white fat. A future study that includes this information could provide further clues to obesity’s effect on the brain.
Image: T1-weighted brain MRI examples (coronal, top; axial, middle; and sagittal, bottom) of two participants in the UK biobank study (both women and age 65 years), one participant with a body fat percentage of 13 percent (left) and one participant with a body fat percentage of 49 percent (right). MRI image shows lower volumes of subcortical gray matter structures in the individual with higher total body fat percentage (right). Image courtesy of the Radiological Society of North America.