Brain Functional Connectivity Is Modified by a Hypocaloric Mediterranean Diet and Physical Activity in Obese Women

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 9; no. 7; p. 685
• Main Authors: García-Casares, Natalia, Bernal-López, María R, Roé-Vellvé, Nuria, Gutiérrez-Bedmar, Mario, Fernández-García, Jose C, García-Arnés, Juan A, Ramos-Rodriguez, José R, Alfaro, Francisco, Santamaria-Fernández, Sonia, Steward, Trevor, Jiménez-Murcia, Susana, Garcia-Garcia, Isabel, Valdivielso, Pedro, Fernández-Aranda, Fernando, Tinahones, Francisco J, Gómez-Huelgas, Ricardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.07.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Body weight loss; Brain; Brain mapping; Caloric Restriction; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; connectivity; Cortex (insular); Diet, Mediterranean; Error correction; Exercise; Female; Frontal gyrus; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; functional MRI; Humans; inferior parietal lobe; insula; Intervention; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mediterranean diet; Middle Aged; Neural networks; Neuroimaging; Obesity; Obesity - therapy; Parietal lobe; Physical activity; Physical exercise; posterior cingulate; Prefrontal cortex; resting state; Somatosensory cortex; Temporal lobe; Weight control; Weight loss; functional MRI; resting state; temporal lobe; posterior cingulate; connectivity; inferior parietal lobe; Mediterranean diet; prefrontal cortex; somatosensory cortex; insula; obesity; physical activity
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu9070685

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the resting state has shown altered brain connectivity networks in obese individuals. However, the impact of a Mediterranean diet on cerebral connectivity in obese patients when losing weight has not been previously explored. The aim of this study was to examine the connectivity between brain structures before and six months after following a hypocaloric Mediterranean diet and physical activity program in a group of sixteen obese women aged 46.31 ± 4.07 years. Before and after the intervention program, the body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²) was 38.15 ± 4.7 vs. 34.18 ± 4.5 ( < 0.02), and body weight (kg) was 98.5 ± 13.1 vs. 88.28 ± 12.2 ( < 0.03). All subjects underwent a pre- and post-intervention fMRI under fasting conditions. Functional connectivity was assessed using seed-based correlations. After the intervention, we found decreased connectivity between the left inferior parietal cortex and the right temporal cortex ( < 0.001), left posterior cingulate ( < 0.001), and right posterior cingulate ( < 0.03); decreased connectivity between the left superior frontal gyrus and the right temporal cortex ( < 0.01); decreased connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the somatosensory cortex ( < 0.025); and decreased connectivity between the left and right posterior cingulate ( < 0.04). Results were considered significant at a voxel-wise threshold of ≤ 0.05, and a cluster-level family-wise error correction for multiple comparisons of ≤ 0.05. In conclusion, functional connectivity between brain structures involved in the pathophysiology of obesity (the inferior parietal lobe, posterior cingulate, temporo-insular cortex, prefrontal cortex) may be modified by a weight loss program including a Mediterranean diet and physical exercise.