Alert! Obesity Might Cause 'Brain Shrinkage'

Obesity is known for its harmful over all effect on health, but a recent study suggested these harmful effects also reach the brain structure.

Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that higher levels of body fat were tied to lower brain volumes in certain areas. Specifically, too much body fat was linked to reduced amounts of gray matter — the brain tissue that contains nerve cells — in structures in the center of the brain.

After analyzing brain scans, the reaserchers concluded a link between body fat and brain volume, noting that this link was stronger among men compared with women.

In the study, published in the journal Radiology, the researchers also saw changes in the brain's white matter — long nerve fibers that allow areas of the brain to communicate — tied to body fat.

The study comes amid global research interest at linking obesity with changes in the brain, including lower brain volumes, or brain shrinkage. Previous studies have also found a link between obesity and brain diseases such as dementia.