Impact of adolescent sucrose access on cognitive control, recognition memory, and parvalbumin immunoreactivity

Since sugar consumption could potentially influence behavior and high-order cognitive processes, Reichelt et al. (2015) set out to explore its impact in an important neurodevelopmental period, adolescence. In this study, a proportion of rats at their adolescent stage were fed sucrose before performing a rodent analog of the Stroop task (assesses cognitive ability related to executive function). Signs of prefrontal cortex dysfunction were observed in the sucrose-fed mice, who failed to respond appropriately to incongruent stimuli. These rats exposed to sucrose also performed poorly in an on object-in-place recognition memory task, which was also indicative of prefrontal and hippocampal impairment. Analysis of the brain revealed that the expression of parvalbumin-immunoreactive GABAergic interneurons in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex was reduced in the sugar-consuming rats. The intake of sucrose in adolescence may have caused long-term damage to these rats’ neurocognitive ability, influencing its decision-making skills and memory, and potentially making them more vulnerable to developing psychological disorders.

Year: 2015

Reference: Reichelt, A. C., Killcross, S., Hambly, L. D., Morris, M. J., & Westbrook, R. F. (2015). Impact of adolescent sucrose access on cognitive control, recognition memory, and parvalbumin immunoreactivity. Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), 22(4), 215–224.