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Association between body mass index and cortical thickness: among elderly cognitively normal men and women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2014

Hojeong Kim ,
Changsoo Kim ,
Sang Won Seo ,
Duk L. Na ,
Hee Jin Kim ,
Mira Kang ,
Hee-Young Shin ,
Seong Kyung Cho ,
Sang eon Park  and
Jeongmin Lee
...Show all authors
Hojeong Kim
Affiliation:
Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Changsoo Kim*
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Sang Won Seo*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Duk L. Na
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Hee Jin Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Mira Kang
Affiliation:
Center for Health Promotion, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
Hee-Young Shin
Affiliation:
Center for Health Promotion, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
Seong Kyung Cho
Affiliation:
Center for Health Promotion, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
Sang eon Park
Affiliation:
Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Jeongmin Lee
Affiliation:
Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Jung Won Hwang
Affiliation:
Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Seun Jeon
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea
Jong-Min Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea
Geon Ha Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Hanna Cho
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Byoung Seok Ye
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea
Young Noh
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, South Korea
Cindy W. Yoon
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea
Eliseo Guallar
Affiliation:
Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
*
Changsoo Kim, MD, PhD, Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, South Korea. Phone: +82-2-2228-1860; Fax: +82-2-392-8133. Email: preman@yuhs.ac.
Correspondence should be addressed to: Sang Won Seo, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, South Korea. Phone: +82-2-3410-1233; Fax: +82-2-3410-0052. Email: sangwonseo@empal.com
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Abstract

Background:

There is increasing evidence of a relationship between underweight or obesity and dementia risk. Several studies have investigated the relationship between body weight and brain atrophy, a pathological change preceding dementia, but their results are inconsistent. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cortical atrophy among cognitively normal participants.

Methods:

We recruited cognitively normal participants (n = 1,111) who underwent medical checkups and detailed neurologic screening, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the health screening visits between September 2008 and December 2011. The main outcome was cortical thickness measured using MRI. The number of subjects with five BMI groups in men/women was 9/9, 148/258, 185/128, 149/111, and 64/50 in underweight, normal, overweight, mild obesity, and moderate to severe obesity, respectively. Linear and non-linear relationships between BMI and cortical thickness were examined using multiple linear regression analysis and generalized additive models after adjustment for potential confounders.

Results:

Among men, underweight participants showed significant cortical thinning in the frontal and temporal regions compared to normal weight participants, while overweight and mildly obese participants had greater cortical thicknesses in the frontal region and the frontal, temporal, and occipital regions, respectively. However, cortical thickness in each brain region was not significantly different in normal weight and moderate to severe obesity groups. Among women, the association between BMI and cortical thickness was not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggested that underweight might be an important risk factor for pathological changes in the brain, while overweight or mild obesity may be inversely associated with cortical atrophy in cognitively normal elderly males.

Keywords

cortical thicknessBMIunderweightoverweightdementia
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 121 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

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