SynthesisInternational journal of obesity (2005)2019
Neuroanatomical differences in obesity: meta-analytic findings and their validation in an independent dataset.
Synthesis in International journal of obesity (2005), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Network-Level Convergence of Adiposity-Related Gray Matter Alterations: A Coordinate-Based Connectome Mapping Meta-Analysis With Imaging Transcriptomics.Human brain mapping · 2026Pooled it
- The cerebellum plays more than one role in the dysregulation of appetite: Review of structural evidence from typical and eating disorder populations.Brain and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Gray matter volume alterations in subjects with overweight and obesity: Evidence from a voxel-based meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Obesity is associated with reduced orbitofrontal cortex volume: A coordinate-based meta-analysis.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2020Pooled it
- Deep learning-based BMI inference from structural brain MRI reflects brain alterations following lifestyle intervention.Human brain mapping · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Noninvasive neuromodulation of the prefrontal cortex in young women with obesity: a randomized clinical trial.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2020Trial
- Identification of critical brain regions for young adults with obesity and their relationships with impulsivity using machine learning based on neuroanatomical features.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Article
- Central Obesity-related Brain Alterations Predict Cognitive Impairments in First Episode of Psychosis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Observational
- High-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy in cognitively unimpaired older adults but slower atrophy in individuals with existing mild cognitive impairment.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- The study on cerebral variations and cognitive function in male patients with hyperuricemia using amide proton transfer imaging.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Aging and metabolism contribute separately to brain-body health.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Exploring cannabinoid receptor CB1 autophagy and the obesity phenotype of p62-deficient mice.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Central Adiposity Accumulation is Associated with Cortical Alteration and Impaired Cognitive Function in Adolescents.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Personality and cortical architecture in premenstrual dysphoric disorder.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Article
- Taming dimensionality in big neuroimaging data: Efficient orthonormal projective NMF via stochastic learning and data compression.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Prefrontal Structural Asymmetry Mediates Body Mass Index and Treatment Response in Major Depressive Disorder.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- Trait- versus state- grey matter volume alterations in premenstrual dysphoric disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Relationship between body mass index, gray matter volume and peripheral inflammation in patients with post-COVID condition.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Liver fat mediates hippocampal-orbitofrontal reward circuit disruption and cognitive-emotional impairments in MASLD.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundObesity has been linked with subtle differences in brain structure. These differences tend to be especially relevant in prefrontal cortex regions, areas which play an important role in executive control. However, results in this field are often contradictory: although studies tend to report lower gray matter volume in relation to obesity, some have also observed null or positive associations. To overcome this issue, we conducted a meta-analysis on voxel-based morphometry (VBM) differences associated with obesity-related variables and validated the findings with an independent dataset.
methodsThe literature search included combinations of the following key words: (i) neuroimaging terms: MRI, gray matter, brain, magnetic resonance; (ii) obesity-related terms: obesity, obese, body mass, waist circumference, adiposity. We conducted the meta-analysis using Anisotropic Effect-Size Seed-Based d Mapping (AES-SDM) software. Twenty-one studies on obesity and VBM fulfilled our inclusion criteria, representing 5882 participants (54% females) aged 18-92 years. To examine the validity of our meta-analytic results, we additionally tested on an independent dataset (Human Connectome Project, n = 378 participants) whether mean VBM values obtained for each cluster showed correlations with body mass index (BMI).
resultsWe found that obesity-related variables were consistently associated with lower gray matter volume in areas including the medial prefrontal cortex, bilateral cerebellum, and left temporal pole. The clusters showed negative associations between gray matter volume and BMI in the independent dataset, with the exception of one cluster in the cerebellum.
conclusionsOur findings provide robust evidence that obesity and body mass are related to significantly lower gray matter volume in brain areas with a key role in executive control. These findings might suggest a neurobiological link between obesity and self-regulatory deficits.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.