Christina Prickett1,2, Renerus Stolwyk1,3, Paul O'Brien2, Leah Brennan4. 1. School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia. 2. Centre for Obesity Research and Education, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia. 3. Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia. 4. School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, 115 Victoria Parade/Locked Bag 4115, Melbourne, VIC, 3065, Australia. leah.brennan@acu.edu.au.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare cognitive functioning between treatment-seeking individuals with obesity and healthy-weight adults. DESIGN AND METHODS: Sixty-nine bariatric surgery candidates (BMI > 30 kg/m2) and 65 healthy-weight control participants (BMI 18.5-25 kg/m2) completed a neuropsychological battery and a self-report psychosocial questionnaire battery. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that obesity was predictive of poorer performance in the domains of psychomotor speed (p = .043), verbal learning (p < .001), verbal memory (p = .002), complex attention (p = .002), semantic verbal fluency (p = .009), working memory (p = .002), and concept formation and set-shifting (p = .003), independent of education. Obesity remained a significant predictor of performance in each of these domains, except verbal memory, following control for obesity-related comorbidities. Obesity was not predictive of visual construction, visual memory, phonemic verbal fluency or inhibition performance. Individuals with obesity also had significantly poorer decision-making compared to healthy-weight controls. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the contribution of obesity to selective aspects of mid-life cognition after controlling for obesity-related comorbidities, while addressing limitations of previous research including employment of an adequate sample, a healthy-weight control group and stringent exclusion criteria. Further investigation into the functional impact of such deficits, the mechanisms underlying these poorer cognitive outcomes and the impact of weight-loss on cognition is required.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare cognitive functioning between treatment-seeking individuals with obesity and healthy-weight adults. DESIGN AND METHODS: Sixty-nine bariatric surgery candidates (BMI > 30 kg/m2) and 65 healthy-weight control participants (BMI 18.5-25 kg/m2) completed a neuropsychological battery and a self-report psychosocial questionnaire battery. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that obesity was predictive of poorer performance in the domains of psychomotor speed (p = .043), verbal learning (p < .001), verbal memory (p = .002), complex attention (p = .002), semantic verbal fluency (p = .009), working memory (p = .002), and concept formation and set-shifting (p = .003), independent of education. Obesity remained a significant predictor of performance in each of these domains, except verbal memory, following control for obesity-related comorbidities. Obesity was not predictive of visual construction, visual memory, phonemic verbal fluency or inhibition performance. Individuals with obesity also had significantly poorer decision-making compared to healthy-weight controls. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the contribution of obesity to selective aspects of mid-life cognition after controlling for obesity-related comorbidities, while addressing limitations of previous research including employment of an adequate sample, a healthy-weight control group and stringent exclusion criteria. Further investigation into the functional impact of such deficits, the mechanisms underlying these poorer cognitive outcomes and the impact of weight-loss on cognition is required.
Entities:
Keywords:
Bariatric surgery; Body mass index; CVD risk factors; Cognition; Executive function; Obesity
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