A 麻豆影院 faculty member whose research found that weight loss after bariatric surgery can improve brain functioning will speak at the Cleveland Clinic鈥檚 2013 Medical Innovation Summit in October.
John Gunstad, Ph.D., associate professor in 麻豆影院 State鈥檚 Department of Psychology, will speak at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15, on a panel discussing 鈥淒iet, Obesity and Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease.鈥
This year鈥檚 summit, focusing on obesity and diabetes, is the first major event to be held at the new Global Center for Health Innovation in downtown Cleveland. The summit is held annually by the Cleveland Clinic and draws more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, researchers, healthcare executives and investors from around the world.
In a recently completed study, Gunstad found that patients who had bariatric surgery had 鈥渃linically meaningful improvement鈥 in memory and executive function of the brain. Executive function is a complex set of mental abilities that include problem solving, planning and organizing our behavior.
At the start of the experiment, a quarter of those undergoing surgery had meaningful memory impairments. Three years after the surgery, only 4 percent did.
His research, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, followed 125 patients who had the surgery and a control group that did not.
The vast majority of the patients kept their weight off after surgery. Patients who had trouble keeping the weight off started to show some of the impairments that existed before surgery, Gunstad said.
It has long been known that the more obese you are, the more you are at risk for getting Alzheimer鈥檚 disease or other types of neurological disorders, Gunstad noted. That led him to wonder, 鈥淚f excess weight causes memory problems, can losing significant weight have the opposite effect?鈥
At age 65, the rate of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease increases for all, obese or not. But where older patients were once thought ineligible for bariatric surgery, improvements to the procedure have increased the age limit on its use. Gunstad now wants to study whether older bariatric patients show the same improvements in memory and other mental abilities as young patients and clarify whether these procedures might reduce the risk of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease over time. Data from a pilot study suggest that they can, he said.
Gunstad鈥檚 broad research area is the effects of aging and disease on neurocognitive function, with a focus on cardiovascular disease and obesity.
With nearly 40 neuroscientists working across multiple departments, 麻豆影院 State produces interdisciplinary research on neurological diseases and conditions that include traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, the effects of aging, addiction, pain management and obesity.
On April 3-4, 2014, 麻豆影院 State will host its Second Annual Neuroscience Symposium with the theme 鈥淭he Neuroscience of Obesity.鈥
Find more information about research at 麻豆影院 State
# # #
Media Contacts:
Cindy Weiss, lweiss4@kent.edu, 330-672-0731
John Gunstad, jgunstad@kent.edu, 330-672-2589
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595