Open AccessObesity and Brain Vulnerability in Normal and Abnormal Aging: A Multimodal MRI Study
Author(s) -
Manmohi D Dake,
Matteo De Marco,
Daniel Blackburn,
Iain D. Wilkinson,
Anne M. Remes,
Yawu Liu,
Maria Pikkarainen,
Merja Hallikainen,
Hilkka Soininen,
Annalena Venneri
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of alzheimer's disease reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2542-4823
DOI - 10.3233/adr-200267
Subject(s) - dementia , neuroimaging , white matter , voxel based morphometry , psychology , disease , medicine , alzheimer's disease , brainstem , cerebral blood flow , brain size , neuroscience , audiology , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology
Background: How the relationship between obesity and MRI-defined neural properties varies across distinct stages of cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease is unclear. Objective: We used multimodal neuroimaging to clarify this relationship. Methods: Scans were acquired from 47 patients clinically diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia, 68 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 57 cognitively healthy individuals. Voxel-wise associations were run between maps of gray matter volume, white matter integrity, and cerebral blood flow, and global/visceral obesity. Results: Negative associations were found in cognitively healthy individuals between obesity and white matter integrity and cerebral blood flow of temporo-parietal regions. In mild cognitive impairment, negative associations emerged in frontal, temporal, and brainstem regions. In mild dementia, a positive association was found between obesity and gray matter volume around the right temporoparietal junction. Conclusion: Obesity might contribute toward neural tissue vulnerability in cognitively healthy individuals and mild cognitive impairment, while a healthy weight in mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia could help preserve brain structure in the presence of age and disease-related weight loss.