Trial reportNutrients2020
The Effects of a 12-Month Weight Loss Intervention on Cognitive Outcomes in Adults with Overweight and Obesity.
Trial report in Nutrients, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exercise- and dietary pattern-based lifestyle interventions and neurocognitive function in adults: a Bayesian multilevel network and dose-response meta-analysis.Journal of neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Does a combined intervention of diet and exercise lead to a more positive impact on neurocognitive function? A systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Different Exercises Combined with Different Dietary Interventions on Body Composition: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of exercise interventions, alone or in combination with dietary modifications, on working memory in overweight and obese individuals: A systematic review.European journal of sport science · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Effects of combined dietary intervention and physical-cognitive exercise on cognitive function and cardiometabolic health of postmenopausal women with obesity: a randomized controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Trial
- Effects of Acute High-Intensity Interval Exercise and High-Intensity Continuous Exercise on Inhibitory Function of Overweight and Obese Children.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Obesity-induced cognitive impairment: Underlying mechanisms and therapeutic prospects.Metabolism open · 2026Review
- Long-term outcomes of a Mediterranean diet with or without calorie restriction on cognition and cardiometabolic health: The building research in diet and cognition trial.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Exploring the global impact of obesity and diet on dementia burden: the role of national policies and sex differences.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Article
- The Effect of Physical Activity Interventions on Executive Function in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Systematic Review.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Impact of Diet and Exercise Interventions on Cognition and Brain Health in Older Adults: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2023Review
- The role of IGF-1 in exercise to improve obesity-related cognitive dysfunction.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- Can salivary microbiome become a biodetector for type-2 diabetes? Opinion for future implications and strategies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
- Pre-post intervention exploring cognitive function and relationships with weight loss, intervention adherence and dropout.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2023Article
- Effect of Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean diet plus calorie restriction on cognition, lifestyle, and cardiometabolic health: A randomized clinical trial.Preventive medicine reports · 2022Article
- Reduced brain activity during a working memory task in middle-aged apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers with overweight/obesity.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- The relationship between fat mass and obesity associated gene polymorphism rs9939609 and resting cerebral blood flow in a midlife sample with overweight and obesity.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- Obesity-induced cognitive impairment in older adults: a microvascular perspective.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Obesity is associated with poorer executive functioning and reward sensitivity. Yet, we know very little about whether weight loss through diet and/or increased exercise engagement improves cognitive function. This study evaluated whether weight loss following a dietary and exercise intervention was associated with improved cognitive performance. We enrolled 125 middle-aged adults with overweight and obesity (98 female) into a 12-month behavioral weight loss intervention. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: energy-restricted diet alone, an energy-restricted diet plus 150 min of moderate intensity exercise per week or an energy restricted diet plus 250 min of exercise per week. All participants completed tests measuring executive functioning and/or reward sensitivity, including the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Following the intervention, weight significantly decreased in all groups. A MANCOVA controlling for age, sex and race revealed a significant multivariate effect of group on cognitive changes. Post-hoc ANCOVAs revealed a Group x Time interaction only on IGT reward sensitivity, such that the high exercise group improved their performance relative to the other two intervention groups. Post-hoc ANCOVAs also revealed a main effect of Time, independent of intervention group, on IGT net payoff score. Changes in weight were not associated with other changes in cognitive performance. Engaging in a high amount of exercise improved reward sensitivity above and beyond weight loss alone. This suggests that there is additional benefit to adding exercise into behavioral weight loss regimens on executive functioning, even without additional benefit to weight loss.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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.