Pondering Why Belly Fat is Bad for the Brain with Alexis Stranahan

Obesity and diabetes adversely affect learning and memory and increase the risk of dementia. Professor Alexis Stranahan at the Medical College of Georgia has shown that visceral (abdominal) fat adversely affects the function and plasticity of neural circuits in the hippocampus whereas subcutaneous fat has beneficial effects on these circuits. Using mouse models of diet-induced or genetic obesity and transplantation of visceral or subcutaneous fat her laboratory found that obesity causes immune cells that accumulate in visceral fat to produce the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1beta. The IL-1beta then acts on microglial cells in the brain in ways that impair cognition. On the other hand subcutaneous fat has beneficial effects on cognition. Exercise can counteract the adverse effects of visceral fat and enhance the beneficial effects of subcutaneous fat. In this episode Professor Stranahan talks about this research and its implications for enhancing brain health..

LINKS:

Stranahan Lab webpage: https://www.augusta.edu/mcg/dnrm/faculty/stranahan.php

Review article:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8958382/pdf/nihms-1783794.pdf

Visceral fat and IL1-beta:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3921429/pdf/zns2618.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7108893/pdf/jci-130-126078.pdf

Beige fat and cognition:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8324783/pdf/41467_2021_Article_24540.pdf

Blood – brain barrier breakdown:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5363667/pdf/10.1177_0271678X16642233.pdf