ABSTRACT
More than 700 million adults worldwide will be obese by 2015. As reviewed elsewhere in this book, obesity is linked to greater morbidity and mortality (Adams et al., 2006; Ogden, Yanovski, Carroll, & Flegal, 2007), as well as multiple medical and mental health problems (O’Brien, Dixon, & Brown, 2004). Rapidly growing evidence demonstrates that obesity is also associated with poor neurocognitive outcomes. These adverse effects of obesity have been detected across the life span, using a broad range of methodologies (e.g., cognitive testing, neuroimaging, neuropathology), and from countries around the globe. Due to their significant excess weight and many medical comorbidities, bariatric surgery candidates appear to at very high risk for these adverse cognitive consequences.
