Researchers have found a link between a person having a large muscle mass with a lower percentage of visceral fat, and brain health, according to a study conducted by specialists from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
The researchers explained that a higher ratio of visceral fat to muscle is associated with higher brain age, while subcutaneous fat did not show any significant correlation with brain age.
The study was conducted by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States, and its results will be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, which will be held between November 30 and December 4 in the United States, and the Eurick Alert website wrote about it.
Study co-author Dr. Cyrus Raji, an associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the Mallinckrodt Radiology Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, noted that healthier bodies with more muscle mass and less hidden belly fat are likely to have healthier, more youthful brains.
“Participants with more muscle tended to have younger-looking brains, while those with more hidden belly fat relative to their muscle tended to have older-looking brains,” Raggi reported.
He added that fat located directly under the skin was not linked to brain aging, and in short, increased muscle and lower percentage of visceral fat compared to muscles were associated with a younger brain.
Brain age is a computational estimate of chronological age from a structural MRI scan of the brain.
Raji added, “Improving brain health in turn reduces the risk of developing brain diseases in the future, such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
“Although it is known that chronological aging translates into a loss of muscle mass and an increase in hidden belly fat, this work shows that these health measures are linked to brain aging itself,” Raji said.
In this study, researchers examined 1,164 healthy individuals from 4 sites using whole-body MRI. The researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to measure normal total muscle volume, visceral fat (fat that hides deep inside the abdominal cavity, surrounding vital internal organs), subcutaneous fat, and brain age.
Prospects for designing future treatments
Weight loss medications containing glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), such as Ozempic, have the ability to stimulate fat loss, but they may also be associated with increased muscle loss.
According to Raji, the results of this study could contribute to the design of future treatments, such as glucagon-like peptide agonists that target visceral fat more than subcutaneous fat and reduce muscle loss.
“Losing fat – especially visceral fat – while preserving muscle size will have the best benefit on brain aging and brain health based on insights from our work,” he said.