Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Dec;39(12):4755-4765.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.24320. Epub 2018 Jul 31.

Bariatric surgery in obese patients reduced resting connectivity of brain regions involved with self-referential processing

Guanya Li  1 , Gang Ji  2 , Yang Hu  1 , Mingzhu Xu  1 , Qingchao Jin  1 , Li Liu  1 , Karen M von Deneen  1 , Jizheng Zhao  1   3 , Antao Chen  4 , Guangbin Cui  5 , Huaning Wang  6 , Qingchuan Zhao  2 , Kaichun Wu  2 , Ehsan Shokri-Kojori  7 , Dardo Tomasi  7 , Nora D Volkow  7 , Yongzhan Nie  2 , Yi Zhang  1 , Gene-Jack Wang  7
Affiliations

Bariatric surgery in obese patients reduced resting connectivity of brain regions involved with self-referential processing

Guanya Li et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2018 Dec.

Abstract

Obese individuals exhibit brain alterations of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) integrity of resting-state networks (RSNs) related to food intake. Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective treatment for combating morbid obesity. How bariatric surgery influences neurocircuitry is mostly unknown. Functional connectivity density (FCD) mapping was employed to calculate local (lFCD)/global (gFCD) voxelwise connectivity metrics in 22 obese participants who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging before and 1 month after sleeve gastrectomy (SG), and in 19 obese controls (Ctr) without surgery but tested twice (baseline and 1-month later). Two factor (group, time) repeated measures ANOVA was used to assess main and interaction effects in lFCD/gFCD; regions of interest were identified for subsequent seed to voxel connectivity analyses to assess resting-state functional connectivity and to examine association with weight loss. Bariatric surgery significantly decreased lFCD in VMPFC, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC)/dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and decreased gFCD in VMPFC, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and right insula (pFWE < .05). lFCD decreased in VMPFC and PCC/precuneus correlated with reduction in BMI after surgery. Seed to voxel connectivity analyses showed the VMPFC had stronger connectivity with left DLPFC and weaker connectivity with hippocampus/parahippocampus, and PCC/precuneus had stronger connectivity with right caudate and left DLPFC after surgery. Bariatric surgery significantly decreased FCD in regions involved in self-referential processing (VMPFC, DMPFC, dACC, and precuneus), and interoception (insula), and changes in VMPFC/precuneus were associated with reduction in BMI suggesting a role in improving control of eating behaviors following surgery.

Keywords: bariatric surgery; executive control; fMRI; obesity; self-referential; sensory-emotional-memory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Interaction effects (group × time) for lFCD (cluster size‐corrected, p FWE < .05). (a) There were significant interaction effects (group × time) on lFCD in the VMPFC, PCC/precuneus, and dACC/DMPFC. (b) SG group after surgery had decreased lFCD in VMPFC, PCC/precuneus, and dACC/DMPFC. Ctr group did not show significant lFCD changes. (c) Correlation analysis between behavioral measurements and lFCD. The error bars indicate the standard error. Abbreviation: FCD, functional connectivity mapping; VMPFC, ventromedial prefrontal cortex; PCC, posterior cingulate cortex; dACC, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; DMPFC, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; BMI, body mass index [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 2
Figure 2
Interaction effects (group × time) for gFCD (cluster size‐corrected, p FWE < .05). (a) There were significant interaction effects (group × time) on gFCD in the VMPFC, right DLPFC and right insula. (b) SG group after surgery had decreased gFCD in those brain regions. Ctr group did not show significant gFCD changes. (c) Correlation analysis between behavioral measurements and gFCD. The error bars indicate the standard error. Abbreviation: FCD, functional connectivity mapping; VMPFC, ventromedial prefrontal cortex; DLPFC_R, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; INS_R, right insula; BMI, body mass index; YFAS, Yale food addiction scale [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Interaction effects (group × time) on RSFC for both local and global FCD (p FWE < .05). There were significant interaction effects (group × time) on RSFC between the VMPFC seed (extracted from the lFCD analysis) and the left DLPFC, and between the PCC/precuneus seed (extracted from the lFCD analysis) and the right caudate and left DLPFC. There were also significant interaction effects (group × time) on RSFC between the VMPFC seed (extracted from the gFCD analysis) and the right HIPP/PHIPP. The error bars indicate the standard error. Abbreviation: FCD, functional connectivity mapping; VMPFC, ventromedial prefrontal cortex; DLPFC_L, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; CAU_R, right caudate; BMI, body mass index [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Andrews‐Hanna, J. R. , Smallwood, J. , & Spreng, R. N. (2014). The default network and self‐generated thought: Component processes, dynamic control, and clinical relevance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1316, 29–52. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berthoud, H. R. , & Morrison, C. (2008). The brain, appetite, and obesity. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 55–92. - PubMed
    1. Bruce, J. M. , Hancock, L. , Bruce, A. , Lepping, R. J. , Martin, L. , Lundgren, J. D. , … Savage, C. R. (2012). Changes in brain activation to food pictures after adjustable gastric banding. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, 8(5), 602–608. - PubMed
    1. Bush, G. , Luu, P. , & Posner, M. I. (2000). Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(6), 215–222. - PubMed
    1. Clark, S. M. , & Saules, K. K. (2013). Validation of the Yale food addiction scale among a weight‐loss surgery population. Eating Behaviors, 14(2), 216–219. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms