The Executive Functions in Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review of Neuropsychological Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Studies

Abstract

Background: The increasing incidence of people affected by overweight or obesity is a significant health problem. The knowledge of the factors which influences the inappropriate eating behaviors causing excessive body fat is an essential goal for the research. Overweight and obesity are significant risk factors for many health diseases, such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes. Recently, many studies have focused on the relationship between body weight and cognitive processes.Objectives: This systematic review is aimed to investigate the existence and the nature of the relationship between excessive body weight (overweight/obesity) and executive functions, analyzing cross-sectional, and longitudinal studies in order to verify the evidence of a possible causality between these variables.Methods: The review was carried out according to the PRISMA-Statement, through systematic searches in the scientific databases PubMed, Medline, PsychInfo, and PsycArticles. The studies selected examined performance on executive tasks by participants with overweight or obesity, aged between 5 and 70 years. Studies examining eating disorders or obesity resulting from other medical problems were excluded. Furthermore, the results of studies using a cross-sectional design and those using a longitudinal one were separately investigated.Results: Sixty-three cross-sectional studies and twenty-eight longitudinal studies that met our inclusion and exclusion criteria were analyzed. The results confirmed the presence of a relation between executive functions and overweight/obesity, although the directionality of this relation was not clear; nor did any single executive function emerge as being more involved than others in this relation. Despite this, there was evidence of a reciprocal influence between executive functions and overweight/obesity.Conclusions: This systematic review underlines the presence of a relationship between executive functions and overweight/obesity. Moreover, it seems to suggest a bidirectional trend in this relationship that could be the cause of the failure of interventions for weight reduction. The results of this review highlight the importance of a theoretical model able to consider all the main variables of interest, with the aim to structuring integrated approaches to solve the overweight/obesity problems.

Psychiatric Aspects of Obesity: A Narrative Review of Pathophysiology and Psychopathology

“…Executive functions can be defined as those "high level" activities, mainly worked out by the prefrontal cortex, which allow human beings to produce complex, self-regulatory, goal-oriented thoughts and behaviors through modulation of "lower level" subcortical responses [106]. Obesity is deemed to be associated by reciprocal causation with several possible deficiencies in these functions [107]. Executive dysfunctions, such as poor inhibitory control and an increased delay discounting rate, could lead to detrimental eating patterns, whether in quantitative terms (overeating, gorging, grazing, snacking) or in qualitative terms (craving for palatable, high-sugar, high-fat foodstuffs) and disincline the subject to undertake lasting effective changes in diet and lifestyle.…”

Physical fitness components in relation to attention capacity in Latin American youth with overweight and obesity

“…A review of this literature10 revealed negative effects of nutritional status on cognition, and cross‐sectional studies show that overweight/obesity might be related to poorer brain health in children and adolescents 4,11. Indeed, childhood obesity has been negatively associated with the structure and function of several brain regions that underlie cognitive processes 4,12. Specifically, excessive body weight (overweight/obesity) seems to be related to poorer executive functions 12.…”

“…Indeed, childhood obesity has been negatively associated with the structure and function of several brain regions that underlie cognitive processes 4,12. Specifically, excessive body weight (overweight/obesity) seems to be related to poorer executive functions 12. Given the association of fatness with both physical fitness and attention capacity, it is of interest to examine whether associations between physical fitness and attention are moderated by variations in body composition indicators.…”

Effects of Blood Pressure on Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review

“…into dementia. Given the progressive ageing of the world population, the challenge of modern science is highlighted the factors associated with the evolution of cognitive impairment.Cognitive impairment appears to be amplified by several factors as the habit of smoking cigarettes [13,14], chronic use of alcohol [15], poor eating habits and obesity [16,17], inadequate exercise [18], chronic stress [19] or by some pathologies such as diabetes mellitus [20] or depression [21]. Moreover, the risk of cognitive impairment appears to increase in the presence of cardiovascular disorders, such as high blood pressure, cardiomyopathies, arteriosclerosis, cerebral infarcts and strokes [22].…”