Elevated BMI and illicit drug use are associated with decreased ability to inhibit prepotent behaviors

Abstract

The current study examined the impact of BMI and illicit drug use on the ability to inhibit prepotent behaviors. Participants (n=290) completed surveys and behavioral tasks: the Stroop Test and Go/No-Go. After controlling for age and gender, higher BMI was an independent predictor of poorer performance in both the Stroop and Go/No-Go tasks. Illicit drug use was a predictor of poorer Stroop performance only. However, post hoc analyses showed that illicit drug use significantly impacted Go/No-Go performance in normal weight participants. We conclude that elevated BMI and illicit drug use are predictive of poorer performance on executive functioning tasks that require inhibition of a prepotent response.