As a person's weight goes up, all regions of the brain go down in activity and blood flow, according to a new brain imaging study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. One of the largest studies linking obesity with brain dysfunction, scientists analyzed over 35,000 functional neuroimaging scans using single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) from more than 17,000 individuals to measure blood flow and brain activity. Low cerebral blood flow is the number 1 brain imaging predictor that a person will develop Alzheimer's disease. It is also associated with depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, addiction, suicide, and other conditions.
Striking patterns of
progressively reduced blood flow were found in virtually all regions of the
brain across categories of underweight, normal weight, overweight, obesity, and
morbid obesity. These were noted while participants were in a resting state as
well as while performing a concentration task. In particular, brain areas noted
to be vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease, the temporal and parietal lobes, hippocampus,
posterior cingulate gyrus, and precuneus, were found to have reduced blood flow
along the spectrum of weight classification from normal weight to overweight,
obese, and morbidly obese.
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