Overweight and obesity has been implicated with onset of wide range of chronic illnesses like Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, High blood pressure, early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, Arthritis, different types of cancers and others.
A recent study published in the Quarterly Journal of
Experimental Psychology at The University of Cambridge in U.K denoted that
overweight and obesity has been associated with increased risk of cognitive
decline as evidenced by poorer episodic memories of events by subjects who had
unhealthy Body Mass Index (BMI) above 25.
This study involved subjects aged 18-35 years with BMI
ranging between 18 -51. The subjects were then engaged in a mental challenge to
hide items on computer screen for two days then they were probed to establish if
they can recall which items they had hidden where and when. (Treasure-Hunt Task)
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The researchers found that the subjects with unhealthy BMI
(above 25) had poorer episodic memories of which items they had hidden where
and when as compared to subjects with healthy BMI. They also found that the
magnitude of poor episodic memory worsened with increase in BMI.
Overweight and obesity has also been implicated with loss of
brain mass (white and grey matter- which makes up neurons). Study findings
noted that obese individual had the highest brain mass loss of 8% with
overweight individuals having 4% brain mass loss as compared to those who had
healthy BMI of 18- 25. The brain mass loss was noted at certain parts of the
brain like:-
- Cerebrum- to include Parietal lobe, frontal lobe and the basal ganglia.
- Hippocampus.
- And the anterior Cingulate gyrus.
The structural modification of the cerebrum, hippocampus and
the anterior cingulated gyrus had corresponding functional cognitive deficits
with respect to the part of the brain involved.
Basal ganglia is involved in initiation and fine control of
complex body movements. Loss of brain mass in the basal ganglia
may result in uncoordinated and clumsy movement. Both parietal and frontal
lobes involved in planning and memory with hippocampus playing crucial role in
long term memory.
Diminished ability to form vivid memory of events may play a
significant role in perpetuating the morbidity nature of obesity in the entire
population and have a negative impact on health. Memory plays an important role
in eating and since this is compromised to certain degree in obese subjects,
they may not be at a position to regulate their eating tendencies.
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References:
Overweight, Obesity linked to poorer memory for young
adults- Medical News Today. Address: Http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307188.php.
Can Obesity cause memory loss? A study found that people
defined as obese had lost brain tissue- The Doctors Weighs In. Address: http://www.thedoctorsweightsin.com/can-obesity-cause-memory-loss/.
