Hippocampal-dependent appetitive control is impaired by experimental exposure to a Western-style diet
Open accessAbstract
Animals fed a Western-style diet (WS-diet) demonstrate rapid impairments in hippocampal function and poorer appetitive control. We examined if this also occurs in humans. One-hundred and ten healthy lean adults were randomized to either a one-week WS-diet intervention or a habitual-diet control group. Measures of hippocampal-dependent learning and memory (HDLM) and of appetitive control were obtained pre- and post-intervention. HDLM was retested at three-week follow-up. Relative to controls, HDLM performance declined in the WS-diet group ( d = 0.43), but was not different at follow-up. Appetitive control also declined in the WS-diet group ( d = 0.47) and this was strongly correlated with HDLM decline ( d = 1.01). These findings demonstrate that a WS-diet can rapidly impair appetitive control in humans—an effect that could promote overeating in consumers of a WS-diet. The study also suggests a functional role for the hippocampus in appetitive control and provides new evidence for the adverse neurocognitive effects of a WS-diet.
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Western-style diets rapidly impair appetitive control, compared to those on their habitual diet.
“Western-style diets rapidly impair appetitive control, compared to those on their habitual diet [65].”
From Food Addiction and Psychosocial Adversity: Biological Embedding, Contextual Factors, and Public Health Implications (2020) · cites this paper as [65]
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- Authors
- Stevenson, R. J., Francis, H. M., Attuquayefio, T., Gupta, D., Yeomans, M. R., Oaten, M. J., & Davidson, T.
- Affiliations
- Macquarie University (AU)
- Yale University (US)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Griffith University (AU)
- American University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stevenson, Richard J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Royal Society Open Science
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2020-02
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 191338
- ISSN
- 2054-5703 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7062097
- OpenAlex
- W3005773496
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 12
- FWCI
- 6.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Royal Society Open Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- American University Research Archive
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (DP150100105)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Keywords
- Western diet, hippocampal-dependent learning and memory, dietary intervention, overeating, hippocampus, appetite regulation
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