The Role of BMI, Body Fat Mass and Visceral Fat in Executive Function in Individuals with Overweight and Obesity

Abstract

Evidence accumulated to date suggests that excess weight in the adult population is associated with a wide range of impairments in executive function. However, most studies have only examined the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the cognitive function of individuals with overweight and obesity. This study examined the potential associations of markers of adiposity (BMI, body fat, and visceral fat) with five domains of executive function including cognitive flexibility, inhibition, monitoring, planning, and working memory in a sample of 87 adult with overweight (n = 34) and obesity (n = 53). The results show that obese people had poorer working memory than those with overweight. After controlling for educational levels and physical activity, the results suggest that neither the waist–hip index not visceral fat were associated with cognitive function. In overweight, body fat was negatively associated with executive components of inhibition (p = 0.05) and monitoring (p = 0.02). In the obesity subgroup, body fat was negatively associated with inhibition (0.02) and working memory (0.04). The results provide evidence of the importance of adiposity for cognitive function. The implications for understanding the influence of markers of adiposity in adults with overweight and obesity are discussed.

Memory function performance in individuals classified as overweight, obese, and normal weight

“…This area acts as a mediator between information from posterior sensory areas and the limbic system, thus integrating and providing feedback between sensory and emotional information with the purpose of organizing behavior to achieve a specific goal ( 37 ). The association between obesity and lower memory performance found in our study is in line with previous studies that have suggested that working memory is frequently affected by higher BMI ( 15 , 23 , 27 ). Some mechanisms may explain these results.…”

“…These results might indicate that visceral fat and WHR, apart from increasing the adipose tissue surrounding the intra-abdominal organs ( 58 ), might also have a significant impact on organs, such as the brain. There is consistent evidence that suggests body fat plays a more direct role in the brain, rather than visceral fat and WHR ( 15 , 59 ). This suggests that it is important to study the adiposity continuum and to use complementary measures rather than only BMI.…”

“…In connection with these findings, executive functions and memory are two domains that are affected by a high level of BMI (15). The executive functions (EFs) constitute a set of cognitive capacities necessary to control and selfregulate an individual's behavior (20).…”

“…Nevertheless, alterations in neuropsychological processes, such as poor performance in attention, memory, or executive functions, can also have an impact on behaviors prone in individuals with obesity (e.g., appetite dysregulation, decision-making, poor dietary choices, and a tendency toward uncontrolled eating) ( 13 ). The literature shows that memory is essential for food-related decision-making and has a great impact on appetite control and weight gain ( 13 ), especially working memory ( 14 , 15 ) and episodic memory ( 16 ). This bidirectional relationship between obesity and cognitive function shows two pathways.…”

Pre-Surgery Demographic, Clinical, and Symptom Characteristics Associated with Different Self-Reported Cognitive Processes in Patients with Breast Cancer

“…It is not readily apparent why self-identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander was associated with membership in the low interpersonal effectiveness class and warrants evaluation in a more ethnically diverse sample [31]. In our study, a higher BMI and lower levels of physical activity were associated with worse performance on the interpersonal effectiveness subscale, consistent with studies reporting that a higher BMI and lower levels of physical activity were associated with worse performance on measures of information processing and executive functions that require inhibitory control and working memory [52][53][54][55]. Our findings suggest that because these two characteristics are associated with interpersonal effectiveness, they may affect cognitive flexibility as well.…”