Dr Lucy Cheke, University of Cambridge
7 March 2014, 3.00 PM - 7 March 2014, 3.00 PM
The Tobacco & Alcohol Research Group are hosting a seminar on Friday 7th March, 3-4pm in the Experimental Psychology coffee room. Dr Lucy Cheke from the University of Cambridge will be giving a talk titled: The Amnesic Effects of Obesity: Episodic Memory Deficits Revealed in Young, Healthy Overweight Individuals
The Tobacco & Alcohol Research Group are hosting a seminar on Friday 7th March, 3-4pm in the Experimental Psychology coffee room.
Dr Lucy Cheke from the University of Cambridge will be giving a talk titled:
The Amnesic Effects of Obesity: Episodic Memory Deficits Revealed in Young, Healthy Overweight Individuals
Outline
Obesity has become an international health crisis, affecting over 35% of adults worldwide [World Health Organization, 2009]. There is accumulating evidence that obesity is associated with hippocampal dysfunction, which may impact memory. Here we hypothesized that overweight individuals would be impaired relative to their lean counterparts on a “What-Where-When” test of episodic memory. It was found that overweight participants scored significantly lower on the What-Where-When test, as well as on a test of spatial memory, but that the spatial memory deficit could not explain the episodic memory score. This finding of a deficit in hippocampal-dependant episodic memory in obesity is of major concern given the emerging evidence for a role for episodic cognition in appetite regulation. Episodic memory deficits in obesity may therefore form part of a vicious cycle of obesity and cognitive decline.
Please feel free to join us.