Obesity accelerates brain ageing: a multimodal imaging study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Public Health

Background:

• Obesity is a global health issue linked to accelerated aging and neurodegeneration.
• Accelerated brain aging is a potential mechanism underlying obesity's impact on cognitive function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between obesity and brain age discrepancy using neuroimaging and machine learning.
• To assess if obesity accelerates brain aging across the adult lifespan.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study using multimodal neuroimaging data from the Cam-CAN dataset.
• Machine learning applied to estimate brain age delta (predicted vs. chronological age).
• Comparison of brain age delta between obese and normal-weighted individuals matched for age, gender, and education.

Main Results:

• Obese individuals exhibited a greater brain age delta in grey matter and functional connectivity.
• The difference in brain age delta peaked in mid-adulthood (40-60 years) for grey matter.
• Intra-network connectivity showed a more pronounced age-related difference in late-life (60-90 years).

Conclusions:

• Obesity accelerates the brain aging process, with effects detectable from mid-adulthood.
• These findings support the hypothesis that obesity contributes to accelerated brain aging.
• Early obesity interventions may be crucial for maintaining brain health and reducing risks of late-life brain pathologies.