How semaglutide treatment relates to brain changes in teenagers with obesity
Observes brain scans before and during semaglutide treatment in teenagers with obesity.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Erin Mauney
- Where
- Boston, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Brain and Obesity Longitudinal Development: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Semaglutide Treatment of Adolescent Obesity
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- People taking part
- 12 people, planned
- Starts
- Mar 2027
- Expected to end
- Jun 2029
- Type of study
- Observational
- Treatments tested
- Semaglutide
- Record updated
- 2 November 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for teenagers aged 12 to 15 with obesity whose own doctor has decided to start weekly semaglutide (Wegovy). It studies brain and body changes over about 6 months.
- Age
- 12 to 15 years
- Sex
- All sexes can join.
- Disease stage
- Obesity: body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex, and below 160% of the 95th percentile.
- Earlier treatment
- The teenager's own doctor has decided to start weekly semaglutide injections, with a planned maintenance dose of at least 1.7 mg per week. No current or earlier use of a GLP-1 receptor agonist, and no recent stop of one.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Cannot have an MRI (for example implanted metal or electronic devices, or fixed metal braces)
- Current or earlier GLP-1 receptor agonist use, or recent stop
- Pregnancy
- Current treatment with a GnRH analog or gender-affirming hormones
- A medical, brain or developmental condition that would block the study tests or confuse the results
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 10 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Adolescents 12 to 15 years old at enrollment
- Obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex and below 160% of the 95th percentile
- The participant's own treating physician has independently decided to initiate weekly subcutaneous semaglutide (with a planned maintenance dose of at least 1.7 mg per week) as part of routine clinical care
- Able to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Parent/guardian permission and participant assent
Who cannot take part
- Current or prior use of a GLP-1 receptor agonist, or recent discontinuation
- Current treatment with a GnRH analog or gender-affirming hormone therapy
- Any medical, neurological, or developmental condition that, in the investigator's judgment, would prevent completion of study procedures or confound the imaging or cognitive measures
- Any contraindication to MRI (e.g., non-removable implanted metal or electronic device, or fixed metal orthodontic hardware)
- Pregnancy
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 12 and 15 years old?
Where in United States
- Tufts Medical CenterBoston, United StatesContact: Erin Mauney, MDNot yet recruiting
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This single-site, prospective observational pilot study examines how clinically prescribed semaglutide is associated with changes in the adolescent brain, cognition, mood, interoception, and metabolic and biological markers. Adolescents 12 to 15 years old with obesity (body mass index at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex), whose own treating physician has independently decided to start weekly subcutaneous semaglutide (Wegovy) as part of routine care, complete multimodal assessments before starting the medication and again after approximately 6 months of treatment.
Read full original descriptionShow less
Assessments at each timepoint include 3T structural and resting-state functional MRI, a neurobehavioral and interoceptive battery, and saliva and blood collection for biomarker analysis and biobanking; a semi-structured qualitative interview is conducted at the follow-up visit. The study does not provide, prescribe, or modify the medication-all treatment decisions are made by the participant's own physician.
The primary goal is to characterize within-subject changes in resting-state functional connectivity, brain structure, cognition, and eating- and reward-related behavior associated with GLP-1 receptor agonist treatment during adolescence, and to interpret these measures relative to normative neuroimaging and cognitive data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
The group in the trial
- Adolescents initiating semaglutide
Adolescents aged 12 to 15 years with obesity (body mass index at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex) who are starting clinically prescribed weekly subcutaneous semaglutide as part of routine clinical care. Participants are assessed before medication initiation and again after approximately 6 months of treatment. The study does not assign, provide, or modify the medication.
Treatment: Semaglutide
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Brain and Obesity Longitudinal Development: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Semaglutide Treatment of Adolescent Obesity
- Plain-language title
- How semaglutide treatment relates to brain changes in teenagers with obesityGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 13 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07911046, who can take part
- Record updated
- 2 November 2026