KEYWORDS: Brain, Western-style diet, Learning and Memory, Impulsivity, Reward.

ABSTRACT: Habitual diet can affect several aspects of brain function.  The most well documented effects come from the animal literature and show that diets rich in added sugar and/or saturated fat cause adverse changes to the hippocampus (learning and memory), prefrontal cortex (impulsivity) and brain reward pathways.  Several studies have now started to document similar effects in humans.  In addition, longitudinal studies are now beginning to identify dietary risk and protective factors in the development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.  This article provides a brief but comprehensive review of this literature, offering the latest insights from the emerging field of nutritional neuroscience, alongside their implications.

INTRODUCTION

While much attention has been given to the effects of nutritional problems during childhood on brain development (e.g., breastfeeding, malnourishment), it is only more recently that the impacts o ...