Journal Home > Volume 7 , Issue 3
Food Science and Human Wellness 2018, 7(3): 229-233 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2018.07.001
Short Communication | Open Access | Issue | Published: 17 July 2018

Behavioral assessment of hippocampal function following dietary intervention

Show Author's Information Klaus W. Lange( ),  Ewelina Stollberg,  Yukiko Nakamura,  Joachim Hauser
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
Keywords:
Hippocampus, Memory, Fatty acids, Western diet, Sugar
Cite this article:
Lange KW, Stollberg E, Nakamura Y, et al. Behavioral assessment of hippocampal function following dietary intervention. Food Science and Human Wellness, 2018, 7(3): 229-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2018.07.001
Download citation
EndNote(RIS)
BibTeX

285

Views

1

Downloads

Citations

3

Crossref

N/A

WoS

3

Scopus

0

CSCD

Abstract Full text About this article

Pattern separation keeps items distinct in memory and is mediated by the hippocampus. A relationship between hippocampal function and diet quality has been suggested by findings in both humans and animals. In the present study, rats were fed over seven generations a diet containing increased amounts of sugar and saturated fatty acids, reduced levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and an increased ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids ("Western" diet). Spatial pattern separation (or local discrimination) performance of these animals was compared with that of rats fed a standard diet. A separation-dependent difference between the standard and Western diet groups was found in the number of discriminations performed in the pattern separation task, with rats of the "Western" group performing fewer discriminations. The present results suggest that behavioral assessment of spatial pattern separation can detect effects of dietary interventions in rats and that pattern separation can be impaired by transgenerational administration of a "Western" diet. Future studies should determine which components of this diet induce the memory impairments related to the hippocampus. The translational relevance of these findings in regard to mental disorders such as dementia and depression needs to be investigated.


menu
Abstract
Full text
Outline
About this article

Behavioral assessment of hippocampal function following dietary intervention

Show Author's information Klaus W. Lange( ), Ewelina Stollberg, Yukiko Nakamura, Joachim Hauser
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany

Abstract

Pattern separation keeps items distinct in memory and is mediated by the hippocampus. A relationship between hippocampal function and diet quality has been suggested by findings in both humans and animals. In the present study, rats were fed over seven generations a diet containing increased amounts of sugar and saturated fatty acids, reduced levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and an increased ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids ("Western" diet). Spatial pattern separation (or local discrimination) performance of these animals was compared with that of rats fed a standard diet. A separation-dependent difference between the standard and Western diet groups was found in the number of discriminations performed in the pattern separation task, with rats of the "Western" group performing fewer discriminations. The present results suggest that behavioral assessment of spatial pattern separation can detect effects of dietary interventions in rats and that pattern separation can be impaired by transgenerational administration of a "Western" diet. Future studies should determine which components of this diet induce the memory impairments related to the hippocampus. The translational relevance of these findings in regard to mental disorders such as dementia and depression needs to be investigated.

Keywords: Hippocampus, Memory, Fatty acids, Western diet, Sugar

References(39)

[1]

K.W. Lange, Movement and nutrition in health and disease, Mov. Nutr. Health Dis. 1 (2017) 1-2.
DOI Google Scholar
[2]

J. Sarris, A.C. Logan, T.N. Akbaraly, G.P. Amminger, V. Balanzá-Martínez, M.P. Freeman, J. Hibbeln, Y. Matsuoka, D. Mischoulon, T. Mizoue, A. Nanri, D. Nishi, D. Ramsey, J.J. Rucklidge, A. Sanchez-Villegas, A. Scholey, K. -P. Su, F.N. Jacka, Nutritional medicine as mainstream in psychiatry, Lancet Psychiatry 2 (2015) 271-274.
DOI Google Scholar
[3]

G.L. Gessa, G. Biggio, F. Fadda, G.U. Corsini, A. Tagliamonte, Effect of the oral administration of tryptophan-free amino acid mixtures on serum tryptophan, brain tryptophan and serotonin metabolism, J. Neurochem. 22 (1974) 869-870.
DOI Google Scholar
[4]

E.A. Moja, W.B. Mendelson, D.M. Stoff, J.C. Gillin, R.J. Wyatt, Reduction of REM sleep by a tryptophan-free amino acid diet, Life Sci. 24 (1979) 1467-1470.
DOI Google Scholar
[5]

J.S. Lai, S. Hiles, A. Bisquera, A.J. Hure, M. McEvoy, J. Attia, A systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary patterns and depression in community-dwelling adults, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 99 (2014) 181-197.
DOI Google Scholar
[6]

F.N. Jacka, E. Ystrom, A.L. Brantsaeter, E. Karevold, C. Roth, M. Haugen, H.M. Meltzer, S. Schjolberg, M. Berk, Maternal and early postnatal nutrition and mental health of offspring by age 5 years: a prospective cohort study, J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 5 (2013) 1038-1047.
DOI Google Scholar
[7]

L.R. Squire, Memory and the hippocampus: a synthesis from findings with rats, monkeys, and humans, Psychol. Rev. 99 (1992) 195-231.
DOI Google Scholar
[8]

H. Eichenbaum, T. Otto, N.J. Cohen, Two component functions of the hippocampal memory system, Behav. Brain Sci. 17 (1994) 449-517.
DOI Google Scholar
[9]

D. Sampath, M. Sathyanesan, S.S. Newton, Cognitive dysfunction in major depression and Alzheimer's disease is associated with hippocampal-prefrontal cortex dysconnectivity, Neuropsychiatr. Dis. Treat. 13 (2017) 1509-1519.
DOI Google Scholar
[10]

S. Chavlis, P. Poirazi, Pattern separation in the hippocampus through the eyes of computational modeling, Synapse 71 (2017) 10.1002/syn. 21972.
DOI Google Scholar
[11]

E.T. Rolls, R.P. Kesner, A computational theory of hippocampal function, and empirical tests of the theory, Prog. Neurobiol. 79 (2006) 1-48.
DOI Google Scholar
[12]

J.K. Leutgeb, S. Leutgeb, M.B. Moser, E.I. Moser, Pattern separation in the dentate gyrus and CA3 of the hippocampus, Science 315 (2007) 961-966.
DOI Google Scholar
[13]

S.M. McTighe, A.C. Mar, C. Romberg, T.J. Bussey, L.M. Saksida, A new touchscreen test of pattern separation: effect of hippocampal lesions, Neuro Rep. 20 (2009) 881-885.
DOI Google Scholar
[14]

L. Cordain, S.B. Eaton, A. Sebastian, N. Mann, S. Lindeberg, B.A. Watkins, J.H. O'Keefe, J. Brand-Miller, Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 81 (2005) 341-354.
DOI Google Scholar
[15]

B. Levant, T.J. Zarcone, S.C. Fowler, Developmental effects of dietary n-3 fatty acids on activity and response to novelty, Physiol. Behav. 101 (2010) 176-183.
DOI Google Scholar
[16]

J. Hauser, E. Stollberg, A. Reissmann, I. Kaunzinger, K.W. Lange, Alterations of attention and impulsivity in the rat following a transgenerational decrease in dietary omega-3 fatty acids, Food Sci. Hum. Wellness 7 (2018) 49-56.
DOI Google Scholar
[17]

M.F. Bear, Homosynaptic long-term depression: a mechanism for memory? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 96 (1999) 9457-9458.
DOI Google Scholar
[18]

V. Deroche, M. Marinelli, S. Maccari, M. Le Moal, H. Simon, P.V. Piazza, Stress-induced sensitization and glucocorticoids. I. Sensitization of dopamine-dependent locomotor effects of amphetamine and morphine depends on stress-induced corticosterone secretion, J. Neurosci. 15 (1995) 7181-7188.
DOI Google Scholar
[19]

E.N. Pothos, L. Hernandez, B.G. Hoebel, Chronic food deprivation decreases extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens: implications for a possible neurochemical link between weight loss and drug abuse, Obes. Res 3 (Suppl. 4) (1995) 525S-529S.
DOI Google Scholar
[20]

P.G. Reeves, F.H. Nielsen, G.C. Fahey, AIN-93 purified diets for laboratory rodents: final report of the American Institute of Nutrition ad hoc writing committee on the reformulation of the AIN-76A rodent diet, J. Nutr. 123 (1993) 1939-1951.
DOI Google Scholar
[21]

J.C. Talpos, R. Dias, T.J. Bussey, L.M. Saksida, Hippocampal lesions in rats impair learning and memory for locations on a touch-sensitive computer screen: the "ASAT" task, Behav. Brain Res. 192 (2008) 216-225.
DOI Google Scholar
[22]

T.J. Bussey, T.L. Padain, E.A. Skillings, B.D. Winters, A.J. Morton, L.M. Saksida, The touchscreen cognitive testing method for rodents: how to get the best out of your rat, Learning Memory 15 (2008) 516-523.
DOI Google Scholar
[23]
Campden Instruments, Instruction Manual - 89546-R- Location Discrimination (LD) Task for Rat Touch Screen Systems and ABET Ⅱ, Campden Instruments Limited, Loughborough, 2011.
[24]

M.A. Yassa, C.E.L. Stark, Pattern separation in the hippocampus, Trends Neurosci. 34 (2011) 515-525.
DOI Google Scholar
[25]

P.E. Gilbert, R.P. Kesner, W.E. DeCoteau, Memory for spatial location: role of the hippocampus in mediating spatial pattern separation, J. Neurosci. 18 (1998) 804-810.
DOI Google Scholar
[26]

P.E. Gilbert, R.P. Kesner, I. Lee, Dissociating hippocampal subregions: double dissociation between dentate gyrus and CA1, Hippocampus 11 (2001) 626-636.
DOI Google Scholar
[27]

E. Stollberg, J. Hauser, A. Reissmann, I. Kaunzinger, K.W. Lange, Transgenerational reduction of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and cognition in Wistar rats, Mov. Nutr. Health Dis. 2 (2018) 11-21.
DOI Google Scholar
[28]

H. Francis, R. Stevenson, The longer-term impacts of Western diet on human cognition and the brain, Appetite 63 (2013) 119-128.
DOI Google Scholar
[29]

R. Molteni, R.J. Barnard, Z. Ying, C.K. Roberts, F. Gomez-Pinilla, A high-fat, refined sugar diet reduces hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor, neuronal plasticity, and learning, Neuroscience 112 (2002) 803-814.
DOI Google Scholar
[30]

P. Bekinschtein, B.A. Kent, C.A. Oomen, G.D. Clemenson, F.H. Gage, L.M. Saksida, T.J. Bussey, BDNF in the dentate gyrus is required for consolidation of "pattern-separated" memories, Cell Rep. 5 (2013) 759-768.
DOI Google Scholar
[31]

M.S. Zainuddin, S. Thuret, Nutrition, adult hippocampal neurogenesis and mental health, Br. Med. Bull. 103 (2012) 89-114.
DOI Google Scholar
[32]

M. Fotuhi, P. Mohassel, K. Yaffe, Fish consumption, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and risk of cognitive decline or Alzheimer disease: a complex association, Nat. Clin. Pract. Neurol. 5 (2009) 140-152.
DOI Google Scholar
[33]

A.P. Simopoulos, Omega-3 fatty acids in inflammation and autoimmune disease, J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 21 (2002) 495-505.
DOI Google Scholar
[34]

S.L. Hargrave, T.L. Davidson, T. -J. Lee, K.P. Kinzig, Brain and behavioral perturbations in rats following Western diet access, Appetite 93 (2015) 35-43.
DOI Google Scholar
[35]

T.M. Hsu, S.E. Kanoski, Blood-brain barrier disruption: mechanistic links between Western diet consumption and dementia, Front. Aging Neurosci. 6 (2014) 88.
DOI Google Scholar
[36]

S.E. Kanoski, T.L. Davidson, Western diet consumption and cognitive impairment: links to hippocampal dysfunction and obesity, Physiol. Behav. 103 (2011) 59-68.
DOI Google Scholar
[37]

B. Shakersain, G. Santoni, S.C. Larsson, G. Faxén-Irving, J. Fastbom, L. Fratiglioni, W. Xu, Prudent diet may attenuate the adverse effects of Western diet on cognitive decline, Alzheimer's & Dementia 12 (2016) 100-109.
DOI Google Scholar
[38]

F.N. Jacka, N. Cherbuin, K.J. Anstey, P. Sachdev, P. Butterworth, Western diet is associated with a smaller hippocampus: a longitudinal investigation, BMC Med. 13 (2015) 215.
DOI Google Scholar
[39]
A.A. Farooqui, T. Farooqui, Neurochemical effects of Western diet consumption on human brain, in: T. Farooqui, A.A. Farooqui (Eds.), Diet and Exercise in Cognitive Function and Neurological Diseases, Wiley, 2015, pp. 15–28.
DOI
Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Rights and permissions

Publication history

Received: 26 April 2018
Revised: 15 June 2018
Accepted: 05 July 2018
Published: 17 July 2018
Issue date: September 2018

Copyright

© 2018 “Society information”.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Elisabeth Windhager for technical support.

Rights and permissions

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Return