Obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with greater risk of brain damage. Over the last decade, functional imaging techniques (functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI, positron emission tomography, PET, electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, near infrared spectroscopy) have been exploited to better characterize behavioral and cognitive processes, by addressing cerebral reactions to a variety of stimuli or tasks, including hormones and substrates (e.g., glucose, insulin, gut peptides), environmental cues (e.g., presentation of sensory stimuli), and cognitive tasks. Among these techniques, fMRI and PET are most commonly used, and this review focuses on results obtained with these techniques in relation to brain substrate metabolism, appetite control and food intake, and cognitive decline in obesity and type 2 diabetes. The available knowledge indicates that there are a series of cerebral abnormalities associating with, or preceding obesity and type 2 diabetes, including impaired substrate handling, insulin resistance, disruption of inter-organ cross-talk and of resting state networking. Some of these abnormalities are reversed by metabolic interventions, suggesting that they are partly a consequence rather than cause of disease. Therefore, causal implications and mechanisms remain to be determined.
Keywords: Appetite control; Brain substrate metabolism; Cognitive processes; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Positron emission tomography.