OBESITY AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF AN ONLINE ASSESSMENT STUDY

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is common among survivors, affecting multiple cognitive domains. Obesity may exacerbate these cognitive deficits through overlapping mechanisms, including neuroinflammation and disrupted neuroplasticity. Here, we report preliminary analyses from an ongoing online study examining associations between obesity and cognitive performance in breast cancer survivors. The interim sample included 38 breast cancer survivors, 19 living with obesity. Cognitive performance was assessed using tasks previously validated in this population (Small et al., 2019): Dot Memory (visuospatial working memory), Card Matching (working memory and attention), and Symbol-Pair Search (processing speed). Cognitive outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, while controlling for age and the previous night’s sleep. In this interim sample, no main effects of obesity were detectable on cognitive performance (Dot Memory: β = −0.07, p = .71; Card Matching: β = −1.53, p = .69; Symbol-Pair Search: β = −0.27, p = .14). In contrast, older age was consistently associated with poorer performance across tasks, including higher Dot Memory recall error (β = 0.04, p = .007), lower Card Matching accuracy (β = −0.66, p = .019), and slower Symbol-Pair Search response times (β = 0.03, p = .03). Sleep effects were modest and sensitive to the inclusion of individual participants. Together, the selective stability of age effects and obesity estimates supports the feasibility and sensitivity of the online assessment approach, while sleep associations appear preliminary. A larger, comparative sample will be necessary to disentangle obesity-specific effects from broader CRCI-related contributions to cognitive performance.