Evidence mapPaperPMID 31906475Full record

Observational studyNutrients2020

Bariatric Surgery and Brain Health-A Longitudinal Observational Study Investigating the Effect of Surgery on Cognitive Function and Gray Matter Volume.

Kristin Prehn, Thorge Profitlich, Ida Rangus, Sebastian Heßler, A Veronica Witte, Ulrike Grittner, Jürgen Ordemann, Agnes Flöel

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Nutrients, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Psychiatric and Cognitive Functioning After Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Pooled it
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  9. A review of brain structural and functional changes using MRI technology in patients who received bariatric surgery.Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery · 2025
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Kristin PrehnDepartment of Neurology & NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Thorge ProfitlichDepartment of Neurology & NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Ida RangusDepartment of Neurology & NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Sebastian HeßlerDepartment of Neurology & NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
A Veronica WitteDepartment of Neurology & NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Ulrike GrittnerInstitute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Jürgen OrdemannCenter for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Agnes FlöelDepartment of Neurology, University of Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEGerman Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases · DEMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences · DEMSH Medical School Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences and Medical University · DEVivantes Klinikum · DEZimmer Biomet (Germany) · DE

Funding

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung FKZ 01GQ1420BDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG-Exc 257, Fl 379-16/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dietary modifications leading to weight loss have been suggested as a means to improve brain health. In morbid obesity, bariatric surgery (BARS)-including different procedures, such as vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), gastric banding (GB), or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery-is performed to induce rapid weight loss. Combining reduced food intake and malabsorption of nutrients, RYGB might be most effective, but requires life-long follow-up treatment. Here, we tested 40 patients before and six months after surgery (BARS group) using a neuropsychological test battery and compared them with a waiting list control group. Subsamples of both groups underwent structural MRI and were examined for differences between surgical procedures. No substantial differences between BARS and control group emerged with regard to cognition. However, larger gray matter volume in fronto-temporal brain areas accompanied by smaller volume in the ventral striatum was seen in the BARS group compared to controls. RYGB patients compared to patients with restrictive treatment alone (VSG/GB) had higher weight loss, but did not benefit more in cognitive outcomes. In sum, the data of our study suggest that BARS might lead to brain structure reorganization at long-term follow-up, while the type of surgical procedure does not differentially modulate cognitive performance.

Indexed as

Bariatric SurgeryCognitionNeuropsychological TestsWeight LossAdultFemaleGray MatterHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedObesityexecutive functionsfronto-temporal cortexnucleus accumbensRoux-en-Y gastric bypassvoxel-based morphometry

Identifiers

PMID31906475
PMCPMC7019777
OpenAlexW2997555826

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.