Better brain connectivity is associated with higher total fat mass and lower visceral adipose tissue in military pilots

David Cárdenas,Iker Madinabeitia,Raimundo Jiménez,Francisco Alarcón,Jesús Vera,Carlos De Teresa,Andrés Catena

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-57345-3

David Cárdenas, Iker Madinabeitia + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57345-3

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Abstract

A lack of exercise leads to being overweight or obese affecting regional brain structure and functional connectivity associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia. In recent decades, several studies of healthy individuals suggest that adiposity may also produce negative independent effects on the brain. We aimed to investigate the relationship between body composition – total fat mass (TFM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) – with white matter (WM) integrity using a whole-brain approach in military pilots. Twenty-three military helicopter pilots (Mage = 36.79; SD = 8.00; MBMI = 25.48; SD = 2.49) took part in the study. Brain volumes were studied using diffusion tensor imaging technique by means of a 3T Magnetom Tim Trio. Measurements of body mass index (BMI), TFM and VAT were obtained using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). The results showed that, on one hand, higher TFM was associated with higher white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) and, on the other hand, higher VAT was associated with lower FA. Data showed that TFM and VAT are the critical factors underlying WM integrity in combat helicopter pilots. The authors suggest that fat presence enhance brain connectivity while there is no excess, specifically in VAT.

Highlights

A lack of exercise leads to being overweight or obese affecting regional brain structure and functional connectivity associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia
The correlation analysis revealed that higher total fat mass (TFM) is associated with higher fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher visceral adipose tissue (VAT) with lower FA, while no significant results were found in mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD) and axial diffusivity (AD)
The foremost goal of this study was to examine the possible associations of total fat mass (TFM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) with white matter (WM) integrity of subcortical structures on normal-weight individuals, through fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD) and axial diffusivity(AD)

Summary

Introduction

A lack of exercise leads to being overweight or obese affecting regional brain structure and functional connectivity associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia. Several brain imaging studies have shown an association between adiposity and decreased global brain volume[2], as well as reduced volume of grey matter[3] (GM) and white matter[4] (WM) Related to this topic, the accumulated evidence has demonstrated that obesity raises the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. The accumulated evidence has demonstrated that obesity raises the risk of cognitive decline and dementia It has been associated with structural brain changes in bilateral temporal lobes, anterior lobe of the cerebellum, frontal lobes, temporal lobes, anterior lobe of the cerebellum, occipital lobe, frontal lobe and precuneus[3] and impaired functional connectivity[5]. The indicators of WM integrity observed in this research were fractional anisotropy (FA), considered as the directionality of water diffusivity degree, mean diffusivity (MD), an indicator of average molecular motion, and both radial diffusivity (RD) and axial diffusivity (AD), which are MD perpendicular and parallel to axonal fibres respectively

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