Mental Health

Obese People to Become More Forgetful, Says Study

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Mar 01, 2016 10:46 AM EST

The people that are obese, the risk of physical and psychological health problems may increase significantly such as diabetes, depression, heart disease and anxiety.

However, high BMI may also impact your episodic memory, the ability to remember past event, says new study. Previously, higher BMI was linked to functional and structural changes in the brain. However, it may also result in reduced ability to recall or recover episodic events. Researchers suggested that this can affect the performance of certain cognitive tasks to be performed optimally. As per the research findings, obesity may also impact the person's memory that can inadvertently impact the self-control to regulate food consumption. Simply put, this can make it harder for an overweight person to keep track of what and how much they eat, leading one to overeat, according to Times of India
"The possibility that there may be episodic memory deficits in overweight individuals is of concern, especially given the growing evidence that episodic memory may have a considerable influence on feeding behavior and appetite regulation," said Lucy Cheke, lecturer at the University. However, she added that it is not necessary for the all the overweight people to be forgetful.

The researchers explained that if the research findings are generalized in everyday life, it is possible to see how overweight people may not remember the details of what they ate. In previous studies, obesity has been linked with abnormality of the hippocampus, a part of brain responsible for memory and learning, as well as the frontal lobe, part of brain that leads to decision making abilities. Since 60% adults in Britain are overweight, this number may increase to 70% by 2034, the researchers warned.

"Understanding what drives our consumption and how we instinctively regulate our eating behavior is becoming more and more important given the rise of obesity in society," Cheke added, reports Times of India

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