Altered cross-talk between the hypothalamus and nonhomeostatic regions linked to obesity and difficulty to lose weight

Abstract

Interactions between the hypothalamus and non-homeostatic regions may contribute to explain the difficulty to lose weight in obesity, an assumption never tested in human longitudinal studies. We investigated whether the functional connectivity between the medial and lateral hypothalamus (MH and LH) and corticostriatal regions differs between individuals with excess weight (n = 42) and normal weight (n = 39) using a seed-based resting-state approach. In addition, we examined the longitudinal association between functional connectivity and weight loss in a 3-month follow-up diet. Results showed that participants with excess weight had increased connectivity between the MH and the striatum and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and decreased connectivity with the middle frontal gyrus, and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), as well as a decreased connectivity between the LH and the cerebellum. Decreased connectivity between the MH and the posterior part of the BNST, and between the LH and the cerebellar cortex, predicted a greater percentage of weight loss. Functional connectivity measures explained 36% of the 3-month weight change among individuals with excess weight. We conclude that altered functional connectivity between homeostatic-hypothalamic regions and non-homeostatic corticostriatal and cerebellar regions is linked to obesity and difficulty to lose weight.