We all know that being overweight or obese will have lots of negative health impacts on our bodies. But does obesity also impact your brain?
Research presented at Neuroscience 2012 Conference says yes.
In one of the studies presented, researchers had participants of all shapes and sizes complete the same task. They were shown words written in various colors and were asked to identify the color, not the word. For example there would be the word “blue” but it was written in the color red, so the correct answer would be “red”. Imaging was taken of each participants brain activity while they were completing the task.
Researchers found that the overweight and obese participants had more brain activity during the exercise than their normal weight counterparts. More brain activity means that the overweight and obese participants had to think harder for the same answers — their brains were less efficient.
This can turn into a vicious cycle when it comes to decision making about healthy foods and habits. Because decision making is less efficient, it could be harder to make healthy choices — leading to higher consumption of junk foods and less exercise — leading to increased weight and so on.
Source: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/18/your-brain-on-food-obesity-fasting-and-addiction/
