Norris, Thomas;
Salzmann, A;
Henry, A;
Garfield, Victoria;
Pinto Pereira, Snehal;
(2023)
The relationship between adiposity and cognitive function: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study in UK Biobank.
International Journal of Epidemiology
, 52
(4)
pp. 1074-1085.
10.1093/ije/dyad043.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: There may be a bidirectional relationship between cognition and adiposity, whereby poor cognition leads to increased adiposity and vice versa. We aimed to determine whether these findings are causal, by undertaking a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study. METHODS: A total of 378 877 UK Biobank participants had three adiposity indicators [body fat percentage (BF%), body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio] and two cognitive function measures (reaction time, visual memory). We examined observational associations between each adiposity indicator and cognitive function and vice versa. Using bidirectional inverse-variance weighted MR, we estimated the strength of the adiposity-cognitive function association using genetic instruments for adiposity indicators as our exposures, and we repeated this in the opposite direction using instruments for cognitive function. RESULTS: In the direction adiposity to cognitive function, MR analyses were generally directionally consistent with observational findings, but all confidence intervals contained the null. In the opposite direction, MR estimates for all adiposity measures on reaction time were imprecise and directionally inconsistent. MR estimates for the effects of visual memory on all adiposity measures indicated worse visual memory was associated with lower adiposity. For example, a 1-unit worse visual memory score was associated with a 1.32% [β = −1.32; 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.77,−1.88] and 3.57% (β = −3.64; 95% CI: −1.84,−5.15) lower absolute body fat percentage and relative body mass index, respectively. Observational associations of adiposity on cognitive function are likely not causal. In the reverse direction, our consistent findings that worse visual memory is associated with three adiposity indicators provide support for a causal link between worse visual memory and lower adiposity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The relationship between adiposity and cognitive function: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study in UK Biobank |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/ije/dyad043 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyad043 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Cognition, adiposity, Mendelian randomization, bidirectional, cohort |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci > Department of Targeted Intervention |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10165969 |
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