Caudate Functional Connectivity Associated With Weight Change in Adolescents

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a global health crisis.
• The caudate nucleus is implicated in weight gain in adults, but its role in adolescent weight gain is unclear.
• Adolescent brains are still developing, influencing ingestive behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of caudate-related neural networks in adolescent weight gain.
• To test the hypothesis that functional connectivity in these networks influences weight trajectory.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) on 20 healthy adolescents.
• Baseline and 1-year follow-up measurements of body mass index (BMI).
• Seed-based functional connectivity analysis using the caudate as a seed.

Main Results:

• Greater baseline caudate-lateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity (FC) correlated with lower BMI.
• Increased caudate-lateral prefrontal cortex FC at follow-up was negatively associated with increased BMI.
• These findings suggest a link between specific neural network activity and weight management.

Conclusions:

• Caudate-lateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity may offer a protective effect against adolescent weight gain.
• Developing inhibitory control, associated with this neural pathway, could help prevent childhood obesity.
• This research highlights potential neural targets for obesity prevention strategies.