Background Bariatric surgery is associated with improved cognition and it is possible that such improvements are found at extended follow-ups. We hypothesized that cognitive improvement would be maintained 3 years post-bariatric surgery. Methods Fifty bariatric patients were recruited from the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery parent project. Participants completed a computerized cognitive test battery to assess cognitive function at 12-weeks, 12-months, 24-months, and 36-months post-surgery. Results Repeated measures revealed main effects for attention, executive function, and memory. Attention improved up to 24-months and then slightly declined, though still fell within the average range at 36-months. Improvements in executive function reached its peak at 36-months post-surgery. Short-term improvements in memory were maintained at 36-months. No main effect emerged for language. Conclusion Bariatric surgery may lead to lasting improvements in cognition. Prospective studies with extended follow-ups (e.g., 10 years) should examine whether bariatric surgery can attenuate cognitive decline in severely obese persons.

Obesity is associated with cognitive dysfunction in children and adolescents, although the mechanisms underlying these deficits remain unclear. This study examined the associations between body mass index (BMI) and regional gray matter volume and white matter integrity in 120 healthy children and adolescents (6-18 years of age) who underwent magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging. Bonferroni-corrected partial correlation analyses controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics revealed significant inverse associations between demographically standardized BMI values and gray matter volume of frontal (r = -0.31) and limbic (r = -0.35) brain regions. No such pattern emerged for fractional anisotropy of white matter tracts. Subsequent hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the relationship between standardized BMI and structural gray and white matter brain indices did not vary with age. These findings suggest that obesity in children and adolescents is associated with decreased volume of frontal and limbic cerebral gray matter regions. Further research is much needed to better elucidate possible brain-based mechanisms for cognitive dysfunction associated with obesity.

Objective Obesity is associated with poorer cognitive function and impulsivity, which may contribute to binge eating disorder (BED). The objective of this study was to compare cognitive function in morbidly obese individuals with and without BED. Method A total of 131 morbidly obese individuals (41 with past or present BED, 90 with no BED history) completed a computerized battery of cognitive tests including executive, memory, language, and attention. Results Both groups of participants evidenced high rates of cognitive impairment, however, no significant differences emerged between persons with and without BED on cognitive testing. Comparison of persons without BED, current BED, and past BED also yielded no differences. Discussion In the present sample, morbidly obese individuals with and without BED were clinically indistinguishable on tests of cognitive function. Our findings suggest that obesity, rather than binge eating, may be more directly related to cognition. Future studies should further examine this relationship, as it might provide greater insight into the neural mechanisms for this BED.

Introduction/Purpose Previous work from our group demonstrated improved memory function in bariatric surgery patients at 12 weeks post-operatively relative to controls. However, no study has examined longer term changes in cognitive functioning following bariatric surgery. Materials and Methods A total of 137 individuals (95 bariatric surgery patients, 42 obese controls) were followed prospectively to determine whether post-surgery cognitive improvements persist. Potential mechanisms of change were also examined. Bariatric surgery participants completed self-report measurements and a computerized cognitive test battery prior to surgery and at 12-week and 12-month follow-up; obese controls completed measures at equivalent time points. Results Bariatric surgery patients exhibited cognitive deficits relative to well established standardized normative data prior to surgery, and obese controls demonstrated similar deficits. Analyses of longitudinal change indicated an interactive effect on memory indices, with bariatric surgery patients demonstrating better performance post-operatively than obese controls. Conclusion While memory performance was improved 12 months post-bariatric surgery, the mechanisms underlying these improvements were unclear and did not appear attributable to obvious post-surgical changes, such as reductions in BMI or co-morbid medical conditions. Future studies employing neuroimaging, metabolic biomarkers, and more precise physiological measurements are needed to determine the mechanisms underlying memory improvements following bariatric surgery.

Older adults with epilepsy demonstrated greater cognitive deficits than matched controls. Polytherapy and anxiety heightened the risk for cognitive impairment in some cognitive domains, but not in others. Understanding the nature of cognitive decline in this population, as well as associated risk factors, may assist in the differential diagnosis of cognitive complaints and improve the design of treatment studies for older patients with epilepsy. Replication in larger, longitudinal studies is warranted to generalize these findings.

Introduction/Purpose Cognitive dysfunction is associated with reduced postoperative weight loss up to two years following surgery, though the role of cognition at more extended follow-up is not yet understood. Thirty-six months following bariatric surgery, we retrospectively compared obese and non-obese patients on12-week postoperative cognitive performance. We hypothesized that early postoperative cognitive dysfunction would predict higher body mass index (BMI) and lower percent weight loss (%WL) in the total sample at 36 month follow-up. Materials and Methods Fifty-five individuals undergoing bariatric surgery completed cognitive testing at preoperative baseline and serial postoperative timepoints, including 12 weeks and 36 months. Cognitive test scores were normed for demographic variables. Percent weight loss (%WL) and body mass index (BMI) were calculated at 36-month follow-up. Results Adjusting for gender, baseline cognitive function, and 12-week %WL, 12-week global cognitive test performance predicted 36 month postoperative %WL and BMI. Partial correlations revealed recognition memory, working memory, and generativity were most strongly related to weight loss. Conclusion Cognitive function shortly after bariatric surgery is closely linked to extended postoperative weight loss at 36 months. Further work is necessary to clarify mechanisms underlying the relationship between weight loss durability and cognitive function, including contribution of adherence, as this may ultimately help identify individuals in need of tailored interventions to optimize postoperative weight loss.

This research examined the effects of appearance-based comparisons to muscular and slender idealized male bodies and the contribution of internalization and social comparison to change in body dissatisfaction. Participants were 111 male undergraduates who completed measures of body dissatisfaction, internalization, and social comparison and viewed images of either muscular or slender men in advertisements or product-only advertisements. Results indicated that exposure to both muscular and slender images was associated with an increase in body dissatisfaction, with no significant differences in the change in body dissatisfaction between the two image conditions. Internalization and trait social comparison were each associated with an increase in body dissatisfaction; however, upward social comparison was only a significant predictor of a change in body dissatisfaction for the males who viewed muscular images. These results highlight the impact of slender models on young men's body dissatisfaction and support the examination of media literacy interventions with this population.

Extensive literature has addressed the acute cognitive effects of breaking a fast. Recent reviews in this line of work have synthesized available research on the cognitive consequences of fasting compared with nutrient intake and the cognitive effects of macronutrient consumption. These largely have been inconclusive, possibly in part because of selection criteria limiting the scope of studies covered. The purpose of the current review is to integrate the results of the literature examining the cognitive effects of breakfast and breakfast composition in adults with the use of a flexible definition of breakfast, specifically, any caloric intake after a fasting period of ≥8 h. This review includes 38 studies that examine the acute cognitive impact of breakfast and 16 studies that examine the effects of breakfast composition. Results suggest that healthy adults show a small but robust advantage for memory (particularly delayed recall) from consuming breakfast. Largely equivocal results emerge for attention and motor and executive function; there were no effects from breakfast on language. Regarding breakfast composition, a smaller number of studies and widely disparate methodology addressing this question preclude definitive conclusions about the effects of cognition. A subset of this literature examines these questions in the context of glucoregulation; the findings emphasize the importance of considering differences in glucoregulation in research designs, even among healthy cohorts. The limitations of this literature include methodologic differences, such as the use of different tests to measure cognitive constructs, as well as the effects of timing in test administration.