Contrasting dorsal caudate functional connectivity patterns between frontal and temporal cortex with BMI increase:
Jizheng Zhao1,2,3, Peter Manza4, Jun Gu5
1College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China. zhaojizheng@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
International Journal of Obesity (2005)
|August 26, 2021
Summary
Higher body mass index (BMI) is linked to reduced cognitive flexibility and altered brain connectivity in young adults. These changes in interhemispheric functional connectivity (IHFC) involve regions crucial for cognitive control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Obesity is known to cause brain functional reorganization.
- Limited understanding exists regarding body mass index (BMI)-related alterations in interhemispheric functional connectivity (IHFC) and their impact on executive function in healthy young adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between BMI and IHFC patterns in young adults.
- To explore the relationship between BMI-related IHFC alterations and executive function, specifically cognitive flexibility.
Main Methods:
- Utilized voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) analysis on data from 417 young adults in the Human Connectome Project.
- Employed multiple linear regression to identify brain regions with significant associations between BMI and VMHC.
- Conducted seed-voxel functional connectivity (FC) analyses and examined correlations between BMI, executive function measures, and identified connectivity patterns.
Main Results:
- Higher BMI negatively correlated with cognitive flexibility scores (Dimensional Change Card Sort Test) and VMHC in the inferior parietal lobule, insula, and dorsal caudate.
- The dorsal caudate showed significant associations, with higher BMI linked to increased FC between the caudate and hippocampus, and decreased FC with prefrontal regions (inferior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus).
- FC between the right caudate and left hippocampus was negatively associated with cognitive flexibility scores.
Conclusions:
- Elevated BMI is associated with diminished cognitive flexibility and altered IHFC in brain regions vital for cognitive control.
- Specific connectivity patterns, including higher caudate-medial temporal lobe FC and lower caudate-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex FC, were observed with increasing BMI.
- These findings highlight potential implications for executive function and weight gain in healthy young adults.
