{"id":193771,"date":"2016-02-27T07:09:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-27T07:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=193771"},"modified":"2016-02-27T07:09:31","modified_gmt":"2016-02-27T07:09:31","slug":"obesity-linked-to-worse-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/02\/obesity-linked-to-worse-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Obesity linked to ‘worse memory’"},"content":{"rendered":"
People who are obese have a worse memory than their thinner friends, a small study shows.<\/p>\n
Tests on 50 people showed being overweight was linked to worse “episodic memory” or the ability to remember past experiences.<\/p>\n
The study in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology argues that a less vivid memory of recent meals may lead to overeating.<\/p>\n
However, other aspects of memory – such as general knowledge – were unaffected.<\/p>\n
Tests on rats have previously shown that with burgeoning waistlines come poorer performances in memory tests, but the evidence in humans has been mixed.<\/p>\n
The latest experiments looked at episodic memory – the video tape in your mind – that remembers the smell of a cup of coffee or the feel of holding someone’s hand.<\/p>\n
Fifty people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ranging from 18 (healthy) to 51 (very obese) took part in a memory test – a bit like doing a treasure hunt on your own.<\/p>\n
They had to “hide” objects at different times and on different scenes displayed on a computer screen.<\/p>\n
They were later asked to recall what they had hidden, when and where.<\/p>\n
The results showed obese people’s scores were 15% lower than thinner people.<\/p>\n