Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Obesity, the excess accumulation of adipose tissue, presents a substantial public health burden. Research emerging over the past decade has shown that midlife obesity is associated with altered brain structure and increased risk of developing dementia. Prior research examining obesity-brain health relationships have utilized anthropometric measures of obesity (such as body mass index) and focused on adult populations. The current research aims to build on our understanding of obesity-brain health relationships by a) moving beyond the limitation of body mass index to examine the unique contributions of visceral vs. peripheral adiposity and b) examining two populations: adolescents and middle-aged adults to gain a clearer understanding of how these relationships progress across the lifespan. To this end, four investigations of obesity-brain health relationships were conducted. First, the relationship between adiposity and cognitive performance was examined in adolescents, and revealed a negative association between visceral fat and executive functioning that was more pronounced in females than in males. Second, the relationships between adiposity and two measures of structural brain integrity, signal intensity and magnetization transfer ratio, were assessed in adolescents. Robust relationships were found, possibly indicating variations in membrane phospholipid composition. Third, the relationship between adiposity and cortical thickness was examined in adolescents, revealing age-moderated relationships between adiposity and cortical thickness in males. Fourth, the relationships between adiposity and brain volumes, white matter integrity and cognition were examined in middle-aged adults, demonstrating a negative relationship between adiposity and brain volumes, as well as measures of white matter integrity. Overall these results suggest that high adiposity in adolescents is associated with altered brain structure and cognition, while in middle-aged adults, high adiposity is associated with altered brain structure. Given the rising rates of obesity worldwide, this research has implications for brain health throughout the lifespan.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Deborah Schwartz
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2602315642