Obesity is associated with alterations in anatomical connectivity of frontal-corpus callosum

Abstract

Abstract Obesity has been linked to abnormal frontal function, including the white matter fibers of anterior portion of the corpus callosum, which is crucial for information exchange within frontal cortex. However, alterations in white matter anatomical connectivity between corpus callosum and cortical regions in patients with obesity have not yet been investigated. Thus, we enrolled 72 obese and 60 age-/gender-matched normal weight participants who underwent clinical measurements and diffusion tensor imaging. Probabilistic tractography with connectivity-based classification was performed to segment the corpus callosum and quantify white matter anatomical connectivity between subregions of corpus callosum and cortical regions, and associations between corpus callosum–cortex white matter anatomical connectivity and clinical behaviors were also assessed. Relative to normal weight individuals, individuals with obesity exhibited significantly greater white matter anatomical connectivity of corpus callosum–orbitofrontal cortex, which was positively correlated with body mass index and self-reported disinhibition of eating behavior, and lower white matter anatomical connectivity of corpus callosum–prefrontal cortex, which was significantly negatively correlated with craving for high-calorie food cues. The findings show that alterations in white matter anatomical connectivity between corpus callosum and frontal regions involved in reward and executive control are associated with abnormal eating behaviors.