Grant: Project Grant

Carrying excess body weight, especially around the belly ("visceral fat") and eating unhealthy foods may impair a person's thinking ability including memory and multitasking. This brain fog can lead to the more serious and progressive condition known as dementia. In 2013, we assembled a cohort of over 8,000 Canadian adults from 5 provinces in a study called the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds. Participants provided blood samples and underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain, heart, and abdomen for adipose tissue. We asked them questions about their general health, diet and exercise habits; and administered tests of their memory and thinking ability. In this study, we have recently published an analysis which shows excess fat impairs thinking ability. We now propose to recontact them and re-assess their thinking ability. We will also invite some participants with cognitive dysfunction and others without, for further testing including assessing their ultraprocessed food intake, physical activity, belly fat, and another MRI scan of the brain. This study will allow us to better understand how lifestyle habits such as ultraprocessed food intake, and excess body fat cause brain fog, and ultimately, dementia.