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Early‐life and chronic exposure to high‐fat diet alters noradrenergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission in the male rat amygdala and hippocampus under cognitive challenges
Obesity in childhood increases the chance of developing a number of health and cognitive problems as an adult. Nevertheless, little is known about the processes behind these impacts. Osorio‐Gómez et al. (2024) examined the neurochemical changes in the hippocampus and amygdala, two brain regions associated with emotional memory, as conditioned odor aversion developed in male rats given a high-fat diet from weaning to maturity. The rats showed signs of poor glucose tolerance, decreased insulin sensitivity, weight increase, and metabolic alterations. Diets high in fat (HFD) during critical neurodevelopmental stages, such as childhood, impair cognitive functions and memory in both humans and animals by affecting brain regions involved in emotional memory. Surprisingly, the rats demonstrated enhanced odor aversion memory, which was opposite to the expected cognitive impairments. Increased noradrenergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission in the hippocampus and amygdala was linked to this memory improvement. Notably, these changes in neurotransmitter activity were specific to the exposure to the odor stimuli, while basal neurotransmitter levels were unaffected by the high-fat diet. The findings suggest that a high-fat diet alters cognitive function by modifying neurochemical signaling. Specifically, the upregulation of neurotransmitter levels strengthens memory traces, indicating that metabolic dysfunctions may not only lead to harmful plasticity but could also enhance plasticity depending on the type of information involved. [NPID: childhood obesity, high-fat diet, cognitive function, emotional memory, neurochemical changes, amygdala, hippocampus, neurotransmission, memory enhancement, metabolic dysfunction]
Year: 2024
