Neurocognitive Benefits of a Weight Management Program

The purpose of the present study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effects of a commercially available weight loss program (WW; formerly Weight Watchers) on neural response to food cues and memory tasks, as well as on structural brain morphology. Participants with obesity will be randomized to either 16 weeks of an in-person, group-based WW program (n=30) or a wait-list control (WLC; n=30). Both groups will have structural and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans at baseline and after the 16-week intervention. Participants will complete the following fMRI tasks: 1) structural scan; 2) food cue task to measure reactivity to high and low-calorie food images and 3) N-back task to measure working memory (i.e., the ability to temporarily hold information available for processing). In addition, participants will complete self-report and behavioral measures of eating behaviors, appetite, physical activity, mood, quality of life, attention and memory at baseline, and weeks 8 and 16.