Could weight gain actually shrink the brain?

For every extra pound you put on, your brain shrinks... 

That’s what a recent study from UCLA is suggesting. They looked specifically at elderly people who are obese or overweight and found they have significantly less brain tissue than people of normal weight. The heavier the subject, the smaller the brain was. People categorized as overweight had brains that looked about 8 years older, while those who were obese shrunk their brains by about 16 years.

The authors of the study say most of the brain tissue that is lost with the weight gain occurs in the frontal and temporal lobe regions of the brain, which governs decision-making and memory.