4.7 Review

Unravelling the impacts of western-style diets on brain, gut microbiota and cognition

Journal

NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
Volume 128, Issue -, Pages 233-243

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.05.031

Keywords

Western-style diet; Cognition; Obesity; Microbiome; Inflammation; Hippocampus; Intermittent access; Intergenerational transmission; Interventions; Ageing; Adolescence; Exercise

Funding

  1. NHMRC [1126929]
  2. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [1126929] Funding Source: NHMRC

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The rise in obesity prevalence is linked to modern environments that encourage high-fat, high-sugar diets, which have negative effects on cognitive function. Research suggests that obesity and diet impact cognition through multiple mechanisms across the human lifespan.
The steady rise in the prevalence of obesity has been fostered by modern environments that reduce energy expenditure and encourage consumption of 'western'-style diets high in fat and sugar. Obesity has been consistently associated with impairments in executive function and episodic memory, while emerging evidence indicates that high-fat, high-sugar diets can impair aspects of cognition within days, even when provided intermittently. Here we review the detrimental effects of diet and obesity on cognition and the role of inflammatory and circulating factors, compromised blood-brain barrier integrity and gut microbiome changes. We next evaluate evidence for changing risk profiles across life stages (adolescence and ageing) and other populations at risk (e.g. through maternal obesity). Finally, interventions to ameliorate diet-induced cognitive deficits are discussed, including dietary shifts, exercise, and the emerging field of microbiome-targeted therapies. With evidence that poor diet and obesity impair cognition via multiple mechanisms across the human lifespan, the challenge for future research is to identify effective interventions, in addition to diet and exercise, to prevent and ameliorate adverse effects.

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