Study reveals impact of high-calorie junk food on brain function and behaviour

This discovery could help us understand obesity better and find ways to fight it, the researchers from the University of Michigan, US, observed.

A new study explains how eating high-calorie, sugary, and fatty junk food can change brain function and behaviour. Researchers found that these diets not only alter brain pathways but also affect how rats, especially those prone to obesity, seek food.

This discovery could help us understand obesity better and find ways to fight it, the researchers from the University of Michigan, US, observed. With obesity rates increasing worldwide, it’s important to know how high-calorie diets impact our brains.

Brain studies showed increased CP-AMPAR activity in the nucleus accumbens of obesity-prone rats after junk food deprivation, linked to inputs from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).

This finding helps explain the neural mechanisms behind these behavioural changes.

The study suggests that eating junk food and then stopping it can lead to significant changes in the brain and behaviour, especially in those prone to obesity. Understanding these changes is crucial for addressing obesity and finding new treatment targets.

“These findings show that the interaction between a person’s tendency and diet can lead to weight gain nd obesity,” the researchers concluded.