Longitudinal examination of obesity and cognitive function: results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Open accessAbstract
Background: Obesity indices (i.e. BMI, waist-to-hip ratio) show differential relationships to other health outcomes, though their association to neurocognitive outcome is unclear. Methods: We examined whether central obesity would be more closely associated with cognitive function in 1,703 participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Results: Longitudinal mixed-effects regression models showed multiple obesity indices were associated with poorer performance in a variety of cognitive domains, including global screening measures, memory, and verbal fluency tasks. Obesity was associated with better performance on tests of attention and visuospatial ability. An obesity index by age interaction emerged in multiple domains, including memory and attention/executive function. Conclusion: Obesity indices showed similar associations to cognitive function, and further work is needed to clarify the physiological mechanisms that link obesity to poor neurocognitive outcome.
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Obesity is linked to neurological changes such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and brain atrophy, and obese persons show impairments on cognitive tests of attention, executive function, and memory.
“obesity has been linked with increased risk for neurological changes, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, as well as brain atrophy.4,5 Indeed, obese persons also exhibit impairments on formal cognitive testing, including on tasks of attention, executive function, and memory.6,7”
From Cognitive Function After Bariatric Surgery: Evidence for Improvement 3 Years After Surgery (2014) · cites this paper as [7]
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- Authors
- Gunstad, J., Lhotsky, A., Wendell, C. R., Ferrucci, L., & Zonderman, A. B.
- Affiliations
- Summa Health System (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Venue
- Neuroepidemiology
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2010
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 222-229
- ISSN
- 0251-5350 (ISSN-L)
- 1423-0208
- PMC
- PMC2883839
- OpenAlex
- W1975134899
- Cited by
- 369
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 12.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Neuroepidemiology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (DK075119)
- National Institute on Aging
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL089311, HL089311)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R56DK075119, DK075119, R01DK075119)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Cancer-related cognitive impairment studies
- Keywords
- obesity, cognitive function, abdominal obesity, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, memory, verbal fluency, attention, visuospatial ability, executive function, aging, age interaction
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Attention, Cognition, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Memory, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Obesity, Regression Analysis, Baltimore, Body Mass Index, Waist-Hip Ratio, Executive Function
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