Better brain connectivity is associated with higher total fat mass and lower visceral adipose tissue in military pilots
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Cárdenas Vélez, David; Madinabeitia, Iker; Vera Vílchez, Jesús; Teresa Galván, Carlos de; Alarcón, Francisco; Jiménez Rodríguez, Raimundo; Catena Martínez, AndrésEditorial
Springer Nature
Materia
Cognitive neuroscience Neurology
Fecha
2020-01-17Referencia bibliográfica
Cárdenas, D., Madinabeitia, I., Vera, J. et al. Better brain connectivity is associated with higher total fat mass and lower visceral adipose tissue in military pilots. Sci Rep 10, 610 (2020). [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57345-3]
Patrocinador
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Agencia Estatal de Investigacion) DEP2017-89879-R; CEMIX (Centro Mixto UGRMADOC, Spain) PIN 11Resumen
A lack of exercise leads to being overweight or obese affecting regional brain structure and functional connectivity associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia. In recent decades, several studies of healthy individuals suggest that adiposity may also produce negative independent effects on the brain. We aimed to investigate the relationship between body composition – total fat mass (TFM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) – with white matter (WM) integrity using a whole-brain approach in military pilots. Twenty-three military helicopter pilots (Mage = 36.79; SD = 8.00; MBMI = 25.48; SD = 2.49) took part in the study. Brain volumes were studied using diffusion tensor imaging technique by means of a 3T Magnetom Tim Trio. Measurements of body mass index (BMI), TFM and VAT were obtained using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). The results showed that, on one hand, higher TFM was associated with higher white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) and, on the other hand, higher VAT was associated with lower FA. Data showed that TFM and VAT are the critical factors underlying WM integrity in combat helicopter pilots. The authors suggest that fat presence enhance brain connectivity while there is no excess, specifically in VAT.