title: High body mass index is associated with impaired cognitive control.
abstract: The prevalence of weight problems is increasing worldwide. There is growing evidence that high body mass index (BMI) is associated with frontal lobe dysfunction and cognitive deficits concerning mental flexibility and inhibitory control efficiency. The present study aims at replicating and extending these observations. We compared cognitive control performance of normal weight (BMI < 25) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25) university students on a task tapping either inhibitory control (Experiment 1) or interference control (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 replicated previous findings that found less efficient inhibitory control in overweight individuals. Experiment 2 complemented these findings by showing that cognitive control impairments associated with high BMI also extend to the ability to resolve stimulus-induced response conflict and to engage in conflict-driven control adaptation. The present results are consistent with and extend previous literature showing that high BMI in young, otherwise healthy individuals is associated with less efficient cognitive control functioning.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Psychology Unit & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.sellaro@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sellaro
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Psychology Unit & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lorenza S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Colzato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body mass index; Cognitive control; Inhibitory control; Response-conflict management