Background:

reduced cognitive performance has been observed in patients with severe obesity. Bariatric surgery and subsequent adipose tissue loss seem to affect cognitive functioning positively; however, improvement predictors are not well established.

Aim:

to evaluate the cognitive performance and the nutritional status of patients with severe obesity 6-month after bariatric surgery.

Methods:

we assessed the neuropsychological performance of 22 patients with obesity (body mass index: ~ 42.9 kg/m²). The nutritional evaluation consisted of the routine tests performed in the baseline and postoperative periods. Lastly, we calculated the correlation between neuropsychological assessment results and blood biomarkers.

Results:

the patients did not present cognitive impairment in the preoperative assessment, but performed below the standard range. The patients underwent significant weight loss after 6 months from surgery (~ 22 kg), with a change in obesity class III to I. Also, the patients presented a significant improvement in attention, mental flexibility, inhibitory control, and processing speed. Additionally, we observed a significant improvement in serum folic acid (108 %), gamma-glutamyl transferase (-41 %), uric acid (-32 %), ferritin (-28 %), triglycerides (-19 %), and high-density lipoprotein (9 %). Lastly, we found a moderate positive correlation between processing speed and body weight (r = 0.46), gamma-glutamyl transferase (r = 0.54), and total protein and mental flexibility (r = 0.75).

Conclusion:

bariatric surgery promoted significant weight loss and improved attention, mental flexibility, processing speed, and several nutritional biomarkers. Nevertheless, the surgery had limited effects on other cognitive functions such as short- and long-term memory and language.

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