A new study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, has found that your bodyweight could have a surprising impact on your cognitive or brain function.
Researchers found that our brain activity declines as our body weight increases, probably due to poor blood supply.
Lead author of the study Dr. Daniel Amen said, “The good news is that brain function can improve when the brain is put in a healing environment through healthy eating, such as a healthy calorie-smart diet and regular exercise.”
Dr. Amen is the founder of Amen Clinics, a leading brain-centered mental health clinic in the United States.
The study, which was conducted on thousands of people, showed the link between obesity and brain dysfunction.
The researchers analyzed over 35,000 functional neuroimaging scans using computerized tomography (CT) of over 17,000 participants to measure their brain activity and blood flow.
Low cerebrovascular blood flow indicates that a person will develop dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, addiction, suicide, and other psychological conditions.
Dr. Amen explained, “This study shows that being overweight or obese seriously impacts brain activity and increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease as well as many other psychiatric and cognitive conditions.”
The team found that there were significant patterns of progressively reduced cerebral blood flow as they came across several weight categories – underweight, healthy weight, overweight, obesity, and morbid obesity.
The study also found that certain areas of the brain, such as the temporal and parietal lobes, hippocampus, posterior cingulate gyrus, and precuneus had reduced blood flow in obese people. These areas of the brain are linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease George Perry said, “Acceptance that Alzheimer’s disease is a lifestyle disease, little different from other age-related diseases, that is the sum of a lifetime is the most important breakthrough of the decade.”
“Dr. Amen and collaborators provide compelling evidence that obesity alters blood supply to the brain to shrink the brain and promote Alzheimer’s disease. This is a major advance because it directly demonstrates how the brain responds to our body,” added Perry, who is the Dean of Sciences and Professor of Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
The study findings suggest that there is a need to address obesity and its interventions to improve brain function. The findings are very concerning but there is hope. Dr. Amen said, “One of the most important lessons we have learned through 30 years of performing functional brain imaging studies is that brains can be improved when you put them in a healing environment by adopting brain-healthy habits, such as a healthy calorie-smart diet and regular exercise.”
