The Relationship between Overweight/Obesity and Executive Control in College Students: The Mediating Effect of BDNF and 5-HT

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to explore the association between overweight/obesity and executive control (EC) in young adults, and to further analyze the mediating effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) on the relationship between overweight/obesity and EC. A total of 449 college students aged between 18 and 20 years were recruited for the study between March and December 2019. Their height and weight were then measured professionally. Subsequently, body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight (kg) divided by the square of height (m). The EC of the participants was then estimated using the Flanker task, while their serum BDNF levels and 5-HT levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Finally, the multiple intermediary models in SPSS were used to analyze the mediating effect of 5-HT and BDNF between overweight/obesity and EC. The result show that the overweight/obesity of college students was positively correlated with the response of EC (p ≤ 0.005). However, it was negatively correlated with BDNF (p ≤ 0.05) and 5-HT (p ≤ 0.05). Moreover, BDNF (p ≤ 0.001) and 5-HT (p ≤ 0.001) were negatively correlated with the response of EC. The BDNF level played a partial mediating role between overweight/obesity and EC that accounted for 7.30% of the total effect value. Similarly, the 5-HT of college students played a partial mediating role between overweight/obesity and EC that accounted for 8.76% of the total effect value. Gender and age had no regulatory effect on the relationship between overweight/obesity, BDNF, 5-HT, and EC. This study provides the evidence that 5-HT and BDNF mediated the association between overweight/obesity and executive control. It is indicated that 5-HT and BDNF might be the biological pathways underpinning the link between overweight/obesity and executive control.

Negative Correlation between Serum Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels and Obesity Predictor Markers and Inflammation Levels in Females with Obesity

“…The results of the analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between serum BDNF levels and BMI and WHR (Figure 1). These results are in line with the results of a study conducted by Si et al [32] that there is a negative correlation between BMI and BDNF levels in male and female students. A study conducted by Yang et al [33] also reported that BDNF levels have a significant correlation with BMI in female.…”

“…Having proven by the results of a study by Lee et al [40], the baseline BDNF levels in individuals with obesity are lower than that of in the individuals without obesity. Furthermore, a study conducted by Si et al [32] reported that was associated with the decrease in BDNF levels in adolescents aged 18-20 years. Obesity can reduce serum neurotrophic factor levels and cause blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction [41].…”

“…This shows that BDNF has a central role in inhibiting appetite, thereby increasing negative energy balance dsa [36]. Being overweight and obese in early adulthood are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in future life, and it also has a negative impact on academic performance and executive control which is characterized by accelerated cognitive decline and brain atrophy in later years [32].…”

Association Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Executive Function Among Chinese Tibetan Adolescents at High Altitude

“…In the present study, three core EFs (inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) were tested on the computer by a test tool developed by Chen et al (37), which has been used in many previous studies (38)(39)(40)(41). A modified Eriksen flanker task was used to assess the inhibition aspect of EF (42), and the response times (RT, ms) in the congruent and incongruent trials were recorded as result.…”