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[shinobi602]

Here's a link to the actual study, which for some reason the article didn't give us: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2016.00234/full

Interesting study. I think it's more of a case by case basis but it seems to have effects on the "salient network"? What do you guys think?

Overweight people are less intelligent than people who are do not have weight problems, a provocative study claims.

Overweight men and women have less grey and white matter in key areas of the brain, it suggests. They also have greater impulsiveness and "altered reward processing", the study said.

The researchers said that their findings could explain why overweight people make poor diet choices - they do not have the mental capacity to control themselves. The theory is likely to prove controversial as weight loss campaigners have emphasised that the issues behind weight problems vary from individual to individual.

The research involved sophisticated brain images of 32 adults - 16 men and 16 women - selected from the US city of Baltimore, in Maryland.

Anyone who had a history of brain damage, substance abuse or mental illness was excluded from the group.

Outlining the object of the study, the authors said: "It has been suggested that body composition itself might somehow affect the neural systems that underlie cognition, motivation, self-control and salience processing, which would in turn affect one's ability to make better lifestyle choices, forgoing immediate and/or highly salient rewards for the sake of longer-term health and wellness goals."

The researchers measured Body Mass Index, a commonly-used measure of how overweight a person is, and body fat percentages and compared them to differences in brain structure and function.

Lead researcher Chase Figley, an assistant professor in the department of radiology at the University of Manitoba, said that the brain scans were "very thorough". He said they covered changes across the whole brain, but also "specific networks".

In particular he was interested in the "salience network", which he described as the "seat of motivation, willpower, and the ability to persevere through physical and emotional challenges".

The results showed that there was "no significant difference" in terms of white matter between people who had a normal weight and people who were overweight.

In a surprise twist, people with a higher BMI actually had slightly more grey matter overall.

However, looking at specific networks on the brain a different picture began to emerge. In particular, heavier and fatter people had less white matter in the salience network. There were also differences in the dorsal striatum, an area of the brain involved with habitual behaviour.

Professor Figley told the National Post, a Canadian newspaper: "It stands to reason that these changes could further affect the ability of overweight individuals to exert self-control and maintain healthy lifestyle choices."

He added that it was not clear if the brain differences predispose certain individuals to becoming fat, or vice versa.

However, he said: "There are previous studies that imply elevated body fat can cause these sorts of brain changes."

Two-thirds of men and 57 per of women in Britain are categorised as being overweight or obese, the highest such rates in Europe. Some 26 per cent of boys and 29 per cent of girls are overweight or obese, compared to 17.5 per cent and 21 per cent in 1980.

The study was reported in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...intelligent-than-those-who-are-not-overweigh/

 

[wenis]

This surely will bring forth cogent and positive discussions.

I'll have to sit down and take a look at this study sometime. That is some pretty crazy findings.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

The language used to describe this seems remarkably similar to addiction.

 

[Brianimaniac]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

This. They teach you in elementary school that a sample size like that is inadequate.

 

[Aiustis]

The language used to describe this seeks remarkably similar to addiction.

Food addiction is a thing.

 

[IrishNinja]

The language used to describe this seeks remarkably similar to addiction.

that was absolutely how i read it as well, yeah

 

[freenudemacusers]

are they sure it's not just people from maryland that are dumb?

 

[commedieu]

Why are we having a go at obesity this year..? Did I miss a snapchat or something?

 

[Jackben]

Being fat doesn't mean you have low intelligence.

But if you have low intelligence, there's probably a higher chance of being fat.

This study doesn't really tell us anything and it's scientific claims are undermined by the extremely low sample size.

 

[Nephtes]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

^ this.

 

[Archer]

Food addiction is a thing.

linked to depression and ocd.

 

[BigBeauford]

So because they were fat they had less white matter? Or did they have less white matter prior to becoming fat?

 

[Hari Seldon]

32 people from the same fucking city. Do these people even take a freshman level statistics class? How the fuck does this shit get published?

 

[FStop7]

I completely believe this. It certainly affected me. The way out is to recognize it, accept it, and alter your lifestyle to overcome it.

 

[PeskyToaster]

I'm the smartest person I know though.

 

[Gutek]

I completely believe this. It certainly affected me. The way out is to recognize it, accept it, and alter your lifestyle to overcome it.

Can't. Too dumb.

they do not have the mental capacity to control themselves

 

[radios shipping overview]

Oh boy, this is going to make FitGAF threads tons of fun.

 

[G.ZZZ]

are they sure it's not just people from maryland that are dumb?

They were probably white as well, you can't fool me.

 

[shinobi602]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

Huh, didn't know that. I thought Telegraph was a fairly respected publication.

 

[God Dayumm]

It is known that high blood pressure and blood sugar affect the brain and increase the risk of dementia and other ailments, but the article is not clear on whether they accounted for that. It is important because even thin people can have brain deficiency if they don't control those conditions

 

[freenudemacusers]

so you guys are saying they need a larger sample size? 🤔

 

[kiunchbb]

They probably only have enough funding to do a 32 sample study, hoping that by releasing this "shocking " results they can get more money for bigger study.

 

[koji kabuto]

That's kinda insulting to me since i'm fat
Hope no company sees this study or i'll have hard time finding a job.

 

[Omegasquash]

are they sure it's not just people from maryland that are dumb?

I'm from MD and I love you for this post.

 

[yanipheonu]

BRB, waiting for study attempting to disprove it.

Real talk though, I always do suspect stuff like obesity or racism may have something to do with how people's brains are wired.

 

[FStop7]

Can't. Too dumb.

I don't believe that part at all. People learn to cope with their dependencies. The issue is that people are proud and refuse to ever truly accept that they have a problem.

 

[crowphoenix]

I completely believe this. It certainly affected me. The way out is to recognize it, accept it, and alter your lifestyle to overcome it.

Accept that you are fat it that you are dumb?

 

[Kinyou]

The researchers said that their findings could explain why overweight people make poor diet choices - they do not have the mental capacity to control themselves. The theory is likely to prove controversial as weight loss campaigners have emphasised that the issues behind weight problems vary from individual to individual.

Reminds me of that Marshmallow experiment.

Would be interesting if the kids who failed it ended up overweight.

Edit: oh wait, it even says that the kids who passed ended up with a better BMI. Maybe there really is a correlation there

 

[John Kowalski]

Huh, didn't know that. I thought Telegraph was a fairly respected publication.

I don't know, i've seen some threads sourced by the Telegraph which itself used Daily Mail as a source. At least i think it was the Telegraph. Might have been the Mirror.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Huh, didn't know that. I thought Telegraph was a fairly respected publication.

Literally all the major British newspapers (actually, probably all newspapers everywhere) cover science terribly. Very few journalists come from scientific backgrounds and the vast majority never did quantitative methods, so you end up with ludicrously confident assertions about things that have very weak supportive data. Ben Goldacre wrote a very good book on this and the damaging effect it has on public discourse called "Bad Science"; I very much recommend reading it if you can find a copy.

 

[Resident_UA]

32 people? LOL! There are high school projects that are more scientific than this

 

[Pryce]

So does that mean the majority of people on earth are dumb fucks?

Because obesity is just rising and rising in nations that have the luxury of the abundance of food.

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

I think it's cause and effect. If they had the motivation then they probably wouldn't be obese. Overweightness causes fatigue.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

Yup. Either the people who conducted this study are disingenuous, or they are the dumb ones.

 

[freenudemacusers]

Yup. Either the people who conducted this study are disingenuous, or they are the dumb ones.

maybe the researchers are obese 👀

 

[Malvolio]

Brain deficiencies linked to obesity might be just as accurate.

 

[PeskyToaster]

The article notes that it isn't clear if the fatness causes the stupid or the stupid causes the fatness.

 

[Staf]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

Wrong. I'm a statistician working in the cancer research industry and we often use similar sample sizes, it all boils down to the statistical power of the test which is always computed prior to a study.

 

[Moosichu]

Huh, didn't know that. I thought Telegraph was a fairly respected publication.

Hahaha. Good one m8.

Spoiler

(It used to be)

 

[FTF]

32 people from the same fucking city. Do these people even take a freshman level statistics class? How the fuck does this shit get published?

lol yup, this.

 

[mkenyon]

Oh boy, this is going to make FitGAF threads tons of fun.

It's impossible for FitGAF to become more fun.

 

[Syncytia]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

This seems to me like something you don't just get to do a massive project on. i.e. a small pilot study to see what they find and see if it results in anything to justify a larger, more expensive project.

 

[FStop7]

Accept that you are fat it that you are dumb?

No, that if you are fat and struggling with it it's probably because you have issues with impulse control and reward processing. Create firewalls in your lifestyle in order to protect yourself from impulsiveness. Recognize when you're being impulsive. Develop filters for your impulsive thoughts.

It's a mistake to treat the concept of "intelligence" as monolithic.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Wrong. I'm a statistician working in the cancer research industry and we often use similar sample sizes, it all boils down to the statistical power of the test which is always computed prior to a study.

What statistical test possibly can use a sample size of 32 and have any significant power? Maybe if you're taking time series data over time and so while you only have 32 people, you take an observation each day for a year and so have 11,680 observations in total, fine. That's relevant for things like cancer, sure. But unless they actually started all of these people at the same weight and took observations as some became obese (which they didn't do), what could possibly justify making any conclusions on 32 people? They didn't even use time series data.

 

[Staf]

32 people from the same fucking city. Do these people even take a freshman level statistics class? How the fuck does this shit get published?

Can still be a representative sample. Have you taken any freshman level statistics class? Because that's basic sampling theory.

 

[Cyan]

Here's a link to the actual study, which for some reason the article didn't give us: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2016.00234/full

 

[7DollarHagane]

32 is an absolutely tiny sample size and never enough to make conclusions from. This is the academic equivalent of clickbait by someone looking for funding for a larger project that will inevitably return no results.

Or borderline propaganda from groups that profit off unhealthy food offerings or medical services for overweight people.

"You can't help but be fat"

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Obviously the two are linked. One leads to the other and vice versa. Would love to see more research on this, but I believe that diet and excess adipose tissue can definitely lead to decreased brain function, which probably creates a bit of a vicious cycle.

 

[Staf]

What statistical test possibly can use a sample size of 32 and have any significant power? Maybe if you're taking time series data over time and so while you only have 32 people, you take an observation each day for a year and so have 11,680 observations in total, fine. That's relevant for things like cancer, sure. But unless they actually started all of these people at the same weight and took observations as some became obese (which they didn't do), what could possibly justify making any conclusions on 32 people? They didn't even use time series data.

There are multiple tests that uses a low level of degress of freedom. Don't really have time right now to check the study. But don't have a lot to do at work tomorrow, everyone but me got vacation lol, so gonna analyze their methodology and come back.

But, all i can say is that it's very rare a study get this far if the methodology is shady.