SUNY Downstate Medical Center researchers found that being overweight can result in some brain changes that affect memory and learning capabilities along with the appetite.

 Many studies have highlighted the adverse effects of obesity and being overweight on a person's physical health. Unfortunately, not very many studies have looked into how this weight disorder impacts a person's mental health. Researchers from the SUNY Downstate Medical Center found that being overweight decreases the formation of a molecule that controls brain cell health in the hippocampus region of the brain. This region is associated with emotions, memory and learning capabilities of a person.

For the study, researchers looked at persons with a BMI equal to or greater than 25. Normal weight is defined as a BMI of 18.5-24.9, overweight between 25 and 29.9, and obesity at a BMI of 30 or greater.

Researchers used magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) application to observe this molecule, known as N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA). They found that overweight people had a lower level of NAA than normal weight people.

"We also found that high worry also produced low levels of NAA in the hippocampus, but was not associated with a high body mass index (BMI)," Jeremy D. Coplan, MD, professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate, said in a press statement.

"Whether low NAA is a consequence of being overweight, causes being overweight, or a combination of both remains to be determined," Dr. Coplan added. "Future studies are planned to focus on whether weight loss leads to an increase in NAA."

Obesity has rapidly become a serious health hazard; so much so that the American Medical Association has termed it as a disease rather than a disorder. More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese, according to the CDC.

The health problems faced by obese and overweight people include gallstones, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, coronary artery disease (CAD), a stroke, and sleep apnea, among other conditions.

Findings of the study were published in Neuroimage: Clinical.