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. 2017 Feb:96:137-149.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.013. Epub 2017 Jan 16.

Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with reduced activity in core memory regions of the brain

Lucy G Cheke  1 , Heidi M Bonnici  2 , Nicola S Clayton  2 , Jon S Simons  2
Affiliations

Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with reduced activity in core memory regions of the brain

Lucy G Cheke et al. Neuropsychologia. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Increasing research in animals and humans suggests that obesity may be associated with learning and memory deficits, and in particular with reductions in episodic memory. Rodent models have implicated the hippocampus in obesity-related memory impairments, but the neural mechanisms underlying episodic memory deficits in obese humans remain undetermined. In the present study, lean and obese human participants were scanned using fMRI while completing a What-Where-When episodic memory test (the "Treasure-Hunt Task") that assessed the ability to remember integrated item, spatial, and temporal details of previously encoded complex events. In lean participants, the Treasure-Hunt task elicited significant activity in regions of the brain known to be important for recollecting episodic memories, such as the hippocampus, angular gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Both obesity and insulin resistance were associated with significantly reduced functional activity throughout the core recollection network. These findings indicate that obesity is associated with reduced functional activity in core brain areas supporting episodic memory and that insulin resistance may be a key player in this association.

Keywords: Episodic Memory; FMRI; Insulin resistance; Obesity; What-where-when.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1
Schematic of Treasure-Hunt Task. Items are moved around in a complex scene or response menu. a) Encoding b) What-Where-When retrieval c) Location retrieval d) Object retrieval e) Temporal retrieval f) Control task.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
Accuracy in What-Where-When, Location, Temporal and Object retrieval tasks in (top panel) lean and obese participants and (bottom panel) Participants with low and high circulating insulin resistance.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3
a) (Top Panel): Regions of interest exhibiting greater task-related activity than control during (from left to right) Encoding, WWW, Location, Temporal, Object tasks. (Centre Panel): Regions of interest exhibiting greater task-related activity in lean relative to obese individuals during (from left to right) Encoding, WWW, Location, Temporal, Object tasks. (Bottom Panel): Regions of interest exhibiting greater task-related activity in individuals with low IR relative to those with high IR during (from left to right) Encoding, WWW, Location, Temporal, Object. b) Mean activity levels (Task-Control) across regions of interest in lean and obese participants (left) and high and low IR groups (right).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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