Weight loss results in improved memory

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NEW YORK, April 14 (UPI) -- In a study involving bariatric surgery patients, U.S. researchers found weight loss helped improve memory and concentration.

Principal investigator John Gunstad, an associate professor in Kent State University, and a team of researchers studied 150 participants -- 109 bariatric surgery patients and 41 obese control subjects -- at Cornell Medical College and Weill Columbia University Medical Center, both in New York, and the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute in Fargo, N.D.

The researchers said 12 weeks after surgery they discovered bariatric surgery patients demonstrated improved memory and concentration from the slightly impaired range to the normal range.

"The primary motivation for looking at surgery patients is that we know they lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, so it was a good group to study," Gunstad said in a statement. "This is the first evidence to show that by going through this surgery, individuals might improve their memory, concentration and problem solving."

The findings are published online ahead of print in an upcoming issue of Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.