Changes in reward-induced neural activity upon Cafeteria Diet consumption
Heijkoop, Roy (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)
F. Lalanza, Jaume (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)
Solanas i Garcia, Montserrat (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, de Fisiologia i d'Immunologia)
Álvarez-Monell, Adam (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, de Fisiologia i d'Immunologia)
Subias-Gusils, Alex (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Escorihuela, Rosa M (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Snoeren, E.M.S. (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	Excessive consumption of highly palatable foods rich in sugar and fat, often referred to as "junk" or "fast" foods, plays a central role in the development of obesity. The highly palatable characteristics of these foods activate hedonic and motivational mechanisms to promote food-seeking behavior and overeating, which is largely regulated by the brain reward system. Excessive junk food consumption can alter the functioning of this reward system, but exact mechanisms of these changes are still largely unknown. This study investigated whether long-term junk food consumption, in the form of Cafeteria (CAF) diet, can alter the reward system in adult, female Long-Evans rats, and whether different regimes of CAF diet influence the extent of these changes. To this end, rats were exposed to a 6-week diet with either standard chow, or ad libitum daily access to CAF diet, 30 % restricted but daily access to CAF diet, or one-day-a-week (intermittent) ad libitum access to CAF diet, after which c-Fos expression in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc), Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), and Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) following consumption of a CAF reward of choice was examined. We found that all CAF diet regimes decreased c-Fos expression in the NAc-shell when presented with a CAF reward, while no changes in c-Fos expression upon the different diet regimes were found in the PFC, and possibly the VTA. Our data suggests that long-term junk food exposure can affect the brain reward system, resulting in an attenuated activity of the NAc-shell.
Note:	Altres ajuts: Helse Nord (HNF1443-19)
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Obesity ; Cafeteria diet ; Reward system ; Rats ; Junk food ; C-fos
Published in:	Physiology and Behavior, Vol. 276 (march 2024) , ISSN 1873-507X

DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114478

9 p, 4.4 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Neurociències (INc)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles