Effects of severe obesity and sleeve gastrectomy on cortical thickness in adolescents

Abstract Objective Neurocognitive differences in pediatric obesity may be underpinned by cortical structural alterations. Differences in cortical thickness associated with severe obesity were examined, and preliminary evidence was sought for changes following vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). Methods A total of 18 adolescents with severe obesity (OB) and 17 without obesity (nOB), aged 14 to 21, underwent T1‐weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging. A subset was scanned twice 5 months apart to compare cortical thickness following VSG ( n = 6) with two control groups: wait‐listed ( n = 9) and nOB ( n = 12). Results At baseline, OB had a thinner cortex than nOB in motor and superior parietal cortices. At follow‐up, VSG adolescents lost weight, the wait‐listed group gained weight, and nOB did not change. Group × Time interactions indicated that VSG had cortical thinning in orbitofrontal, primary sensorimotor, superior, and middle temporal cortices and thickening in lingual, fusiform, and lateral occipital cortices. Wait‐listed and nOB groups largely did not change. Conclusions Severe obesity is associated with a thinner cortex in motor and attentional function‐associated regions. VSG resulted in cortical thinning in reward valuation, sensory, and perceptual regions and thickening in visual regions. Surgery‐related changes in regions distinct from those associated with obesity suggest compensation, rather than normalization. These results provide preliminary evidence supporting structural neural alterations following sleeve gastrectomy.