The relationship between visceral adiposity and cognitive performance in older adults
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Updated: May 23, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Dae Hyun Yoon1, Seong Hye Choi, Jae Hak Yu
1Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
a direct association between visceral adiposity on abdominal computed tomography (CT) and cognitive performance has not been reported.
Objectives:
to investigate the associations between total and regional adiposity measured with abdominal CT, and cognitive performance in elderly persons and to explore their modification by age.
Design:
cross-sectional study.
Setting:
a health promotion centre of a tertiary university hospital.
Subjects:
two-hundred and fifty individuals aged 60 years and above who underwent anthropometric measurements, abdominal CT and cognitive testing.
Methods:
adiposity measures included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and visceral and subcutaneous adiposity by abdominal CT. Poor cognitive performance was defined as Mini-Mental State Examination score being at or below 1 SD of age, sex and education-normative values.
Results:
in multivariate logistic regression analyses obesity [odds ratio (OR) 2.61, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.21-6.01, P=0.015] and being in the top tertile of the visceral adiposity area (OR: 2.58, 95% CI=1.001-6.62, P=0.045) were associated with poor cognitive performance in subjects younger than 70 years, but not in those 70 years and older.
Conclusion:
high adiposity, particularly visceral adiposity, was associated with poor cognitive functioning in younger elderly persons.
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