The link between cognition and somatic conditions related to insulin resistance in the UK Biobank study cohort: a systematic review

Giuseppe Fanelli; Nina Roth Mota; Jordi Salas-Salvadó; Mònica Bulló; Fernando Fernandez-Aranda; Lucía Camacho-Barcia; Giulia Testa; Susana Jiménez-Murcia; Valérie Bertaina-Anglade; Barbara Franke; Geert Poelmans; Veerle van Gils; Willemijn J Jansen; Stephanie J B Vos; Theresa Wimberley; Søren Dalsgaard; Csaba Barta; Alessandro Serretti; Chiara Fabbri; Janita Bralten

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104927

The link between cognition and somatic conditions related to insulin resistance in the UK Biobank study cohort: a systematic review

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Dec:143:104927. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104927. Epub 2022 Oct 28.

Authors

Giuseppe Fanelli¹, Nina Roth Mota², Jordi Salas-Salvadó³, Mònica Bulló³, Fernando Fernandez-Aranda⁴, Lucía Camacho-Barcia⁵, Giulia Testa⁵, Susana Jiménez-Murcia⁴, Valérie Bertaina-Anglade⁶, Barbara Franke⁷, Geert Poelmans⁸, Veerle van Gils⁹, Willemijn J Jansen⁹, Stephanie J B Vos⁹, Theresa Wimberley¹⁰, Søren Dalsgaard¹¹, Csaba Barta¹², Alessandro Serretti¹³, Chiara Fabbri¹⁴, Janita Bralten¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Genetics, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
² Department of Human Genetics, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
³ Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament de Bioquímica i Biotecnologia, Reus, Spain; Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Reus, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
⁴ CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain; Psychoneurobiology of Eating and Addictive Behaviours Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
⁵ CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain; Psychoneurobiology of Eating and Addictive Behaviours Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
⁶ Biotrial Neurosciences, Rennes, France.
⁷ Department of Human Genetics, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁸ Department of Human Genetics, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁹ Alzheimer Center Limburg, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and NeuroScience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ National Centre for Register-based Research, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹¹ National Centre for Register-based Research, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Mental Health Services of the Capital Region, Glostrup, Denmark.
¹² Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
¹³ Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
¹⁴ Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Human Genetics, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: janita.bralten@radboudumc.nl.

PMID: 36367493
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104927

Abstract

Clinical and genomic studies have shown an overlap between neuropsychiatric disorders and insulin resistance (IR)-related somatic conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Impaired cognition is often observed among neuropsychiatric disorders, where multiple cognitive domains may be affected. In this review, we aimed to summarise previous evidence on the relationship between IR-related diseases/traits and cognitive performance in the large UK Biobank study cohort. Electronic searches were conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science until April 2022. Eighteen articles met the inclusion criteria and were qualitatively reviewed. Overall, there is substantial evidence for an association between IR-related cardio-metabolic diseases/traits and worse performance on various cognitive domains, which is largely independent of possible confoundings. The most consistent findings referred to IR-related associations with poorer verbal and numerical reasoning ability, as well as slower processing speed. The observed associations might be mediated by alterations in immune-inflammation, brain integrity/connectivity, and/or comorbid somatic or psychiatric diseases/traits. Our findings provide impetus for further research into the underlying neurobiology and possible new therapeutic targets.

Keywords: Attention; Body mass index; Cognitive functioning; Diabetes mellitus; Executive function; Hypertension; Inflammation; Memory; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolism; Reasoning; White matter integrity.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biological Specimen Banks
Cognition
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2*
Humans
Insulin Resistance*
United Kingdom / epidemiology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding