Sex-specific effects of daily exposure to sucrose on spatial memory performance in male and female rats, and implications for estrous cycle stage

Abbott, Kirsten N.; Morris, Margaret J.; Westbrook, R. Frederick; Reichelt, Amy C.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.01.036

Cited by 47 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As this study examined females and diet is known to affect both the estrous cycle 21,22 and oocyte health 23 , and there is mixed evidence for a moderating role of estrous cycle in spatial cognition 24,25 , diet-and microbiomeassociated differences in estrous cycle and oocyte number were investigated. During weeks 1-2 and 6-7, daily estrous monitoring was performed by vaginal lavage.…”

Section: Estrous Cycle Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intermittent cafeteria diet identifies fecal microbiome changes as a predictor of spatial recognition memory impairment in female rats

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Excessive consumption of diets high in saturated fat and sugar impairs short-term spatial recognition memory in both humans and rodents. Several studies have identified associations between the observed behavioral phenotype and diet-induced changes in adiposity, hippocampal gene expression of inflammatory and blood-brain barrier-related markers, and gut microbiome composition. However, the causal role of such variables in producing cognitive impairments remains unclear. As intermittent cafeteria diet access produces an intermediate phenotype, we contrasted continuous and intermittent diet access to identify specific changes in hippocampal gene expression and microbial species that underlie the cognitive impairment observed in rats fed continuous cafeteria diet. Female adult rats were fed either regular chow, continuous cafeteria diet, or intermittent cafeteria diet cycles (4 days regular chow and 3 days cafeteria) for 7 weeks (12 rats per group). Any cafeteria diet exposure affected metabolic health, hippocampal gene expression, and gut microbiota, but only continuous access impaired short-term spatial recognition memory. Multiple regression identified an operational taxonomic unit, from species Muribaculum intestinale, as a significant predictor of performance in the novel place recognition task. Thus, contrasting intermittent and continuous cafeteria diet exposure allowed us to identify specific changes in microbial species abundance and growth as potential underlying mechanisms relevant to diet-induced cognitive impairment.

show abstract

Section: Estrous Cycle Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intermittent cafeteria diet identifies fecal microbiome changes as a predictor of spatial recognition memory impairment in female rats

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A growing body of literature has shown adolescence to be a critical period where exposure to alcohol (Gass et al, ; Nasrallah, Yang, & Bernstein, ; Schindler, Tsutsui, & Clark, ), psychostimulants (Hammerslag, Waldman, & Gulley, ; Sherrill, Stanis, & Gulley, ), cannabinoids (Schneider, Schomig, & Leweke, ), and high fat or high sugar diet (Boitard et al, ; Labouesse et al, ) has pronounced and enduring detrimental effects on cognition, behavior, and learning. In particular, memory tasks reliant on the hippocampus are rapidly disrupted by high fat and high‐sugar diets (Abbott, Morris, Westbrook, & Reichelt, ; Kanoski & Davidson, ; Kanoski, Meisel, Mullins, & Davidson, ), and emerging data links consumption of high fat and high‐sugar diets to deficits in cognition facilitated by the PFC (Baker & Reichelt, ; Labouesse et al, ). The neural basis of these diet induced cognitive deficits has been largely reviewed (Kanoski & Davidson, ; Morris, Beilharz, Maniam, Reichelt, & Westbrook, ).…”

Section: Diet‐induced Alterations In Reward Neurocircuitrymentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of junk foods on the adolescent brain

Reichelt

Rank

2017

Birth Defects Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adolescence is a significant period of physical, social, and emotional development, and is characterized by prominent neurobiological changes in the brain. The maturational processes that occur in brain regions responsible for cognitive control and reward seeking may underpin excessive consumption of palatable high fat and high sugar "junk" foods during adolescence. Recent studies have highlighted the negative impact of these foods on brain function, resulting in cognitive impairments and altered reward processing. The increased neuroplasticity during adolescence may render the brain vulnerable to the negative effects of these foods on cognition and behavior. In this review, we describe the mechanisms by which junk food diets influence neurodevelopment during adolescence. Diet can lead to alterations in dopamine-mediated reward signaling, and inhibitory neurotransmission controlled by γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), two major neurotransmitter systems that are under construction across adolescence. We propose that poor dietary choices may derail the normal adolescent maturation process and influence neurodevelopmental trajectories, which can predispose individuals to dysregulated eating and impulsive behaviors.

show abstract

“…Hippocampal-dependent forms of learning and memory are particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of the overconsumption of high fat and high sugar diets (Molteni et al 2002;Beilharz et al 2014;Hsu et al 2015;Reichelt et al 2015a,b;Abbott et al 2016). Furthermore, these detrimental effects can be long lasting.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily access to sucrose impairs aspects of spatial memory tasks reliant on pattern separation and neural proliferation in rats

2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High sugar diets reduce hippocampal neurogenesis, which is required for minimizing interference between memories, a process that involves "pattern separation." We provided rats with 2 h daily access to a sucrose solution for 28 d and assessed their performance on a spatial memory task. Sucrose consuming rats discriminated between objects in novel and familiar locations when there was a large spatial separation between the objects, but not when the separation was smaller. Neuroproliferation markers in the dentate gyrus of the sucrose-consuming rats were reduced relative to controls. Thus, sucrose consumption impaired aspects of spatial memory and reduced hippocampal neuroproliferation.

show abstract

Sex-specific effects of daily exposure to sucrose on spatial memory performance in male and female rats, and implications for estrous cycle stage

Cited by 47 publications

References 57 publications

Intermittent cafeteria diet identifies fecal microbiome changes as a predictor of spatial recognition memory impairment in female rats

Intermittent cafeteria diet identifies fecal microbiome changes as a predictor of spatial recognition memory impairment in female rats

The impact of junk foods on the adolescent brain

Daily access to sucrose impairs aspects of spatial memory tasks reliant on pattern separation and neural proliferation in rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About