ArticlePloS one2021
Bodyweight change and cognitive performance in the older population.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interindividual Variability in Mental Fatigue-Related Impairments in Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review and Multiple Meta-regression.Sports medicine - open · 2023Pooled it
- Associations of Change in Body Size With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Healthy Older Adults.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Association of cognition with leptin and vascular endothelial growth factor in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2022Trial
- Regional variability in the associations between social and health-related risk factors and memory across Europe.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Longitudinal relationships between pet ownership and cognitive functioning in later adulthood across pet types and individuals' ages.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Incidence of a Multicomponent Physical Exercise Program on Body Composition in Overweight or Obese People Aged 60 Years or Older from Chile.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2024Article
- Changes in Adiposity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: The REGARDS Study.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Article
- Alisol A Exerts Neuroprotective Effects Against HFD-Induced Pathological Brain Aging via the SIRT3-NF-κB/MAPK Pathway.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Article
- Appendicular Lean Mass, Grip Strength, and the Incidence of Dementia Among Older Adults in the Health ABC Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023Article
- Association between physical activity and longitudinal change in body mass index in middle-aged and older adults.BMC public health · 2023Article
- The Association of Obesity and Overweight with Executive Functions in Community-Dwelling Older Women.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Butyrate Improves Neuroinflammation and Mitochondrial Impairment in Cerebral Cortex and Synaptic Fraction in an Animal Model of Diet-Induced Obesity.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Body mass index and trajectories of the cognition among Chinese middle and old-aged adults.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- The relationship between body mass index and postoperative delirium.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Preservation of cognitive function is one of the major concerns in contemporary ageing societies. At the same time, overweight and obesity, which have been identified as risk factors for poor health development, have been increasing in many countries all over the world. This study examines the relationship between bodyweight change and cognitive decline in old age and it aims to determine whether and how changes in body mass index (BMI) affect the development of cognitive functioning in old age. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), covering four waves between 2006 and 2016 with 58,389 participants from 15 countries aged 50+, we estimated asymmetric fixed effects models by gender, adding possible confounding variables such as age, grip strength, health conditions, and physical activity. Additionally, we investigated possible heterogeneity in the BMI-cognition relation. We found a positive association between BMI change and change in cognitive performance, which was dominantly driven by BMI decrease. Weight loss was typically negatively related to cognition, particularly at low levels of BMI and mainly due to health conditions affecting both bodyweight and cognitive performance. Weight gain was, on average, not significantly related to cognitive performance; only respondents with preceding weight loss profited from small increases in BMI. Our analyses provide no support for an "obesity paradox" in cognition, according to which higher weight preserves cognition in old age. The association between weight change and cognitive performance in older age is based on weight changes being related to illness and recovery.
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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.