Purpose
Overweight and obesity have become a big concern, especially for children as it is linked to poor mental and physical health. Through neuroimaging modalities such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), a number of studies have shown brain structural alterations in obesity [1-3]. Regarding research on obesity in children, brain structural abnormalities have been also reported, but there are only a handful of studiesthat have yielded inconsistent results [4-7]. Research on obesity and brain structure not only is limited and contradicted with inconsistent results but also...
Methods and materials
Subjects
Sixteen overweight or obese children (11.1±1.9 years; BMI 29.5±5.5 kg/m2) and twenty-one controls (11.5±1.9 years; BMI 18.14±2.3 kg/m2) volunteered for this study with parental consent (Table 1). All the recruited children were born clinically healthy and right-handed. The overweight/obese group (OC) was defined by a BMI equal to or greater than 24 kg/m2, while the BMI of the control group (HC) was lower than 24 kg/m2. Participants were excluded if they presented with any neurological abnormalities, mental deficiencies, psychological disorders, history of cerebral hemorrhaging...
Results
Regarding the comparison of individual brain volumetric measures, the OC group and HC group were similar after FDR correction, except for the ventricular system which was still significantly larger in the OC group than in the HC group (p=0.0096, Table 2). Regarding network-level analysis with structural covariance (Figure 1, Table 3), OC showed fewer anatomical connections from basal ganglia structures (e.g. bilateral amygdala, left putamen and left pallidum) and additional connections from brainstem structures (e.g. midbrain and SCP) than HC.
Conclusion
Childhood obesity is associated with brain structural network alterations in the basal ganglia and brainstem. Such network-level alteration may be associated with obesity-related behavior and mental well-being measures. Further validations are needed in a larger cohort of children with a more narrow age range for better generalizability of the findings.
Personal information and conflict of interest
D. Hu; Beijing/CN - nothing to disclose D. Ma; Shenzhen/CN - Employee at BrainNow Research Institute H. Cheng; Beijing/CN - nothing to disclose L. Zhao; Shenzhen/CN - Employee at BrainNow Research Institute D. Lew; Shenzhen/CN - Employee at BrainNow Research Institute J. Yan; Beijing/CN - nothing to disclose Y. Lv; Beijing/CN - nothing to disclose Y. Peng; Beijing/CN - nothing to disclose L. Shi; Shenzhen/CN - Founder at BrainNow Research Institute
Corresponding Author:
Yun Peng,Department of Radiology, Beijing Children'sHospital, Capital Medical University, National Centerfor Children's...
References
[1]Medic N, Ziauddeen H, Ersche KD, Farooqi IS, Bullmore ET, Nathan PJ, Ronan L, Fletcher PC. Increased body mass index is associated with specific regional alterations in brain structure. Int J Obes (Lond). 2016; 40: 1177-82.
[2]Bobb JF, Schwartz BS, Davatzikos C, Caffo B. Cross-sectional and longitudinal association of body mass index and brain volume. Hum Brain Mapp. 2014; 35: 75-88.
[3]Walther K, Birdsill AC, Glisky EL, Ryan L. Structural brain differences and cognitive functioning related to body mass index in older females. Hum Brain...