Association between central obesity and executive function as assessed by stroop task performance: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested a link between executive function (EF) and obesity. Studies often adopt body mass index (BMI), which re°ects the distribution of subcutaneous fat, as the sole marker of obesity; however, BMI is inappropriate to distinguish central obesity, which indicates the centralized distribution of visceral fat. Visceral fat compared with subcutaneous fat represents greater relative lipid turnover and may increase the risk of cognitive decline in older adults. However, the relationship between EF and central obesity is largely unknown, particularly in young adults. Therefore, we used waist circumference (WC) as a marker of central obesity and investigated di®erent sensitivities between BMI and WC in the brain function. A total of 26 healthy young adults (aged 18-25 years; 42% female) underwent functional near-infrared spectroscopy assessments. EF was assessed using the Stroop task, which is a classical measurement of EF. A signi¯cant Stroop e®ect was observed in the behavioral and hemodynamic data. In addition, we observed that behavioral interference on the Stroop task varied much more in subjects with higher BMI and WC than those subjects with lower. Elevated BMI and WC were associated with a decreased hemodynamic response during the Stroop task speci¯cally in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Compared to BMI, WC was more closely connected with inhibitory control and revealed right lateralized PFC activation. Our¯ndings suggest that WC is a reliable indicator of brain function in young adults and propose a relationship between EF and central obesity.

Evidence of fNIRS-Based Prefrontal Cortex Hypoactivity in Obesity and Binge-Eating Disorder

“…As hypothesised, we found a reduction in PFC signalling across the OB phenotypes compared to individuals with NW. This is in line with previous fNIRS [ 36 , 37 ] and fMRI research [ 22 , 25 ] highlighting the PFC’s role in dietary self-regulation. Yet, the causal pathways for this well-established association between PFC perturbations and OB development are far from understood [ 22 ].…”

“…Although fNIRS has enormous potential in psychiatry research [35], it has rarely been used to study OB and eating disorders [33]. The only available study using fNIRS in individuals with OB found a decreased hemodynamic response relative to individuals with overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 ) in the left frontopolar area and bilateral DLPFC during a Stroop task [36]; however, no NW group has been included. Although there is no study using fNIRS in BED available, Suda et al (2010) reported a negative correlation between fNIRS-based left OFC activity and binge-eating scores in a sample of individuals with various eating disorders [37].…”

Do Overweight People Have Worse Cognitive Flexibility? Cues-Triggered Food Craving May Have a Greater Impact

“…Previous studies have provided behavioral and neurological evidence that overweight people have poorer cognitive flexibility [3,9], and the effect was confirmed by different paradigms [10,11]. Neurological evidence for overweight individuals in switching tasks suggests that cognitive flexibility is associated with the activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, auxiliary motor areas, and parietal gyrus [12][13][14][15][16]. The neural mechanisms of cognitive flexibility that are affected by overweight include high-level executive control brain regions and the perception and emotional processing cortex.…”

Contextual cues as modifiers of cTBS effects on indulgent eating

“…[44][45][46][47] Recent studies have also identified functional and neuroanatomical differences in the dlPFC of individuals with obesity compared to healthy controls. [48][49][50] While this evidence could suggest that executive function is mediating the relationship between dlPFC function and obesity, others have suggested that the causal direction is bidirectional, [51,52] or even reversed (i.e. with obesity causing impaired executive function).…”