White Matter Integrity Abnormalities in Healthy Overweight Individuals Revealed by Whole Brain Meta-Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging Studies

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to conduct a coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) to investigate white matter (WM) abnormalities in healthy individuals with overweight or obesity. METHODS: A systematic literature search using Web of Science and PubMed datasets was performed. Original investigations that used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to explore fractional anisotropy (FA) differences between healthy overweight/obese individuals and normal weight controls were collected. The meta-analysis was conducted using the seed-based d mapping (SDM) software, employing stringent thresholds for significance. Sensitivity analyses and meta-regression analysis were also performed to examine the robustness of the results and explore potential associations with age and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: The analysis included five studies comprising 232 overweight/obese individuals and 219 healthy normal weight controls. The findings showed that overweight/obese individuals exhibited reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) in specific regions, namely, the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), the splenium of the corpus callosum (CC), and the right median network, cingulum. Meta-regression analysis further revealed that these FA reductions were associated with age. CONCLUSION: These findings provided insights into the potential impact of overweight/obesity on cognition, emotion, and neural functions and highlighted the significance of early prevention and intervention for overweight on the basis of neuroimaging.