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Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Stability in BMI over time is associated with a better cognitive trajectory in older adults
Michal Schnaider Beeri1,2, Amir Tirosh3, Hung-Mo Lin4
1Department of Psychiatry, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
Objective:
Evidence on simultaneous changes in body mass index (BMI) and cognitive decline, which better reflect the natural course of both health phenomena, is limited.
Methods:
We capitalized on longitudinal data from 15,977 initially non-demented elderly from the Alzheimer's Disease Centers followed for 5 years on average. Changes in BMI were defined as (1) last minus first BMI, (2) mean of all follow-up BMIs minus first BMI, and (3) standard deviation of BMI change from baseline and all follow-up visits (representing variability).
Results:
Participants with significant changes in BMI (increase or decrease of ≥5%), or who had greater variability in BMI, had faster cognitive decline. This pattern was consistent irrespective of normal (BMI < 25; N = 5747), overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30; N = 6302), or obese (BMI ≥ 30; N = 3928) BMI at baseline.
Conclusions:
Stability in BMI predicts better cognitive trajectories suggesting clinical value in tracking BMI change, which is simple to measure, and may point to individuals whose cognition is declining.
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