Obesity pandemic is reaching an alarming level globally, including in childhood, with a strong tendency to carry it over in adulthood. Obesity induces deleterious neurobiological outcomes; however, Morys et al. investigated how genetic predisposition to obesity — not obesity itself — impacts the brain and behavior. “We focused on children, as the effects of chronic obesity on the brain are possibly low, so any brain changes associated with genetic risk for obesity would likely constitute vulnerability factors rather than secondary effects of obesity,” explains Filip Morys, the first author of the study.
The investigators used a series of analyses to identify how genetic risk for obesity, assessed by the polygenic risk score for body mass index — a measurement used for obesity screening — is related to neurobehavioral measures. Using a large sample of more than 4,000 participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort, they found that the genetic risk for obesity is linked to lower cortical volume, which in turn is related to increased impulsivity and, 1 year later, an increased body mass index. “To our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the relationship between genetic risk for obesity and brain outcomes in children. Our study confirms that obesity is, at least partially, determined by our genetic composition that influences brain structure and behavior and suggests specific neurobehavioral mechanisms that might be at play here,” Morys adds.
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