Associations between body mass index, sleep-disordered breathing, brain structure, and behavior in healthy children

Jianqi Cui; Guanya Li; Minmin Zhang; Jiayu Xu; Haowen Qi; Weibin Ji; Feifei Wu; Yaqi Zhang; Fukun Jiang; Yang Hu; Wenchao Zhang; Xiaorong Wei; Peter Manza; Nora D Volkow; Xinbo Gao; Gene-Jack Wang; Yi Zhang

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhad267

Associations between body mass index, sleep-disordered breathing, brain structure, and behavior in healthy children

Cereb Cortex. 2023 Sep 9;33(18):10087-10097. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhad267.

Authors

Jianqi Cui^{1

2}, Guanya Li^{1

2}, Minmin Zhang^{1

2}, Jiayu Xu^{1

2}, Haowen Qi^{1

2}, Weibin Ji^{1

2}, Feifei Wu^{1

2}, Yaqi Zhang^{1

2}, Fukun Jiang^{1

2}, Yang Hu^{1

2}, Wenchao Zhang^{1

2}, Xiaorong Wei³, Peter Manza⁴, Nora D Volkow⁴, Xinbo Gao^{5

6}, Gene-Jack Wang⁴, Yi Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Brain Imaging, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University & Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging, Ministry of Education， Xi'an, Shaanxi 710126, China.
² International Joint Research Center for Advanced Medical Imaging and Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment & Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710126, China.
³ Kindergarten, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
⁴ Laboratory of Neuroimaging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
⁵ Chongqing Key Laboratory of Image Cognition, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, China.
⁶ Chongqing Institute for Brain, Guangyang Bay Laboratory, Chongqing 400064, China.

PMID: 37522299
PMCID: PMC10656948 (available on 2024-07-29)
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad267

Abstract

Pediatric overweight/obesity can lead to sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), abnormal neurological and cognitive development, and psychiatric problems, but the associations and interactions between these factors have not been fully explored. Therefore, we investigated the associations between body mass index (BMI), SDB, psychiatric and cognitive measures, and brain morphometry in 8484 children 9-11 years old using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development dataset. BMI was positively associated with SDB, and both were negatively correlated with cortical thickness in lingual gyrus and lateral orbitofrontal cortex, and cortical volumes in postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, precuneus, superior parietal lobule, and insula. Mediation analysis showed that SDB partially mediated the effect of overweight/obesity on these brain regions. Dimensional psychopathology (including aggressive behavior and externalizing problem) and cognitive function were correlated with BMI and SDB. SDB and cortical volumes in precentral gyrus and insula mediated the correlations between BMI and externalizing problem and matrix reasoning ability. Comparisons by sex showed that obesity and SDB had a greater impact on brain measures, cognitive function, and mental health in girls than in boys. These findings suggest that preventing childhood obesity will help decrease SDB symptom burden, abnormal neurological and cognitive development, and psychiatric problems.

Keywords: ABCD; Behavior; Brain morphometry; Childhood obesity; Sleep disordered breathing.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Body Mass Index
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Overweight
Pediatric Obesity*
Polysomnography / methods
Sleep Apnea Syndromes* / complications
Sleep Apnea Syndromes* / diagnostic imaging

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding