Overweight people’s brains ‘age faster past middle age’

A new study has offered evidence that being overweight may be associated with an accelerated ageing process in the brain.

The University of Cambridge research studied data from 473 individuals between the ages of 20 and 87 in order to determine whether whether obesity was associated with brain changes characteristic of ageing.

Significant differences in the volume of white matter – the tissue connecting areas of the brain to allow for the transfer of information between regions – was seen in the brains of overweight individuals compared to those of their leaner counterparts.

Indeed, obese individuals experienced reductions in white matter similar to those in lean individuals ten years their senior, with these differences only observable from middle age onwards. No connection was seen between being overweight and a person's cognitive abilities.

Further research is needed before it can be determined whether being overweight might in some way be causing these changes, or whether obesity is in fact a consequence of brain changes.

Senior author Professor Paul Fletcher from the department of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge said: "It will also be important to find out whether these changes could be reversible with weight loss, which may well be the case."