New research published in NeurobiologyofAging points out that obese or overweight people have reduced white matter volume in the brain compared to normal weight people of the same age group. According to a professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, the reduced volume of white matter is equivalent to about ten years of brain aging. According to the WHO, the number of obese people worldwide has more than doubled since 1980, and in the United States alone, more than 1/3 of adults are obese. It is well known that obesity can increase the risk of many health problems in the population including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. A growing number of researchers are finding that being overweight or obese may also have a negative impact on the brain. Some studies have shown that obesity can accelerate the rate of brain shrinkage and reduce the cognitive ability of the population. The professor pointed out that today we live in a society that is aging faster and the number of people who are obese is increasing, and we need to link the two to assess whether there is some kind of association between them. To conduct an in-depth study, researchers conducted a cross-sectional study in which 473 people aged 20-87 years with normal cognitive abilities were recruited. Participants were divided into three groups based on BMI: 246 in the normal group (BMI: 18.5-25), 150 in the overweight group (BMI: 25-30), and 77 in the obese group (BMI >30). In addition, the researchers used MRI to measure the participants’ brain gray matter and white paper volumes. The researchers found that the white matter volume was significantly reduced in the obese and overweight populations compared to the normal group, but there was no significant difference in the population’s cognitive abilities. The researchers then explored the relationship between white matter volume and age and weight, and they found that obesity and overweight had the greatest impact on the brains of middle-aged adults. For example, a 50-year-old obese adult actually has the brain of a 60-year-old, compared to a normal-weight or thin middle-aged person. Researchers say more recent studies are still needed to explore whether weight loss can circumvent this risk, and to continue to explore whether middle-aged obesity leads to a reduction in brain white matter volume or a reduction in brain white matter volume leads to obesity in the population.