Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Obesity is associated with decreased gray matter volume in children: a longitudinal study

2022; Oxford University Press; Volume: 33; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/cercor/bhac300

1460-2199

Fukun Jiang, Guanya Li, Weibin Ji, Yaqi Zhang, Feifei Wu, Yang Hu, Wenchao Zhang, Peter Manza, Dardo Tomasi, Nora D. Volkow, Xinbo Gao, Gene‐Jack Wang, Yi Zhang,

Birth, Development, and Health

Childhood obesity has become a global health problem. Previous studies showed that childhood obesity is associated with brain structural differences relative to controls. However, few studies have been performed with longitudinal evaluations of brain structural developmental trajectories in childhood obesity. We employed voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis to assess gray matter (GM) volume at baseline and 2-year follow-up in 258 obese children (OB) and 265 normal weight children (NW), recruited as part of the National Institutes of Health Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study. Significant group × time effects on GM volume were observed in the prefrontal lobe, thalamus, right precentral gyrus, caudate, and parahippocampal gyrus/amygdala. OB compared with NW had greater reductions in GM volume in these regions over the 2-year period. Body mass index (BMI) was negatively correlated with GM volume in prefrontal lobe and with matrix reasoning ability at baseline and 2-year follow-up. In OB, Picture Test was positively correlated with GM volume in the left orbital region of the inferior frontal gyrus (OFCinf_L) at baseline and was negatively correlated with reductions in OFCinf_L volume (2-year follow-up vs. baseline). These findings indicate that childhood obesity is associated with GM volume reduction in regions involved with reward evaluation, executive function, and cognitive performance.