Palatable Hyper-Caloric Foods Impact on Neuronal Plasticity.
Front. Behav. Neurosci.. 2017-02-14; 11:
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00019
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1. Front Behav Neurosci. 2017 Feb 14;11:19. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00019.
eCollection 2017.
Palatable Hyper-Caloric Foods Impact on Neuronal Plasticity.
Morin JP(1), Rodríguez-Durán LF(2), Guzmán-Ramos K(3), Perez-Cruz C(4), Ferreira
G(5), Diaz-Cintra S(6), Pacheco-López G(7).
Author information:
(1)Department of Health Sciences, Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM)Lerma,
Mexico; Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Immunobiology, University
Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-EssenEssen, Germany.
(2)Department of Health Sciences, Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM)Lerma,
Mexico; Laboratory of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Division of Research
and Graduate Studies, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of
Mexico (UNAM)Mexico City, Mexico.
(3)Department of Health Sciences, Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) Lerma,
Mexico.
(4)Department of Pharmacology, Center of Research and Advance Studies (CINVESTAV)
Mexico City, Mexico.
(5)Laboratory of Nutrition and Integrative Neurobiology, National Institute of
Agricultural Research (INRA), UMR 1286Bordeaux, France; Laboratory of Nutrition
and Integrative Neurobiology, Université de BordeauxBordeaux, France.
(6)Institute of Neurobiology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Queretaro, Mexico.
(7)Department of Health Sciences, Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM)Lerma,
Mexico; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (ETH) ZurichSchwerzenbach, Switzerland.
Neural plasticity is an intrinsic and essential characteristic of the nervous
system that allows animals “self-tuning” to adapt to their environment over their
lifetime. Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system is
a form of neural plasticity that underlies learning and memory formation, as well
as long-lasting, environmentally-induced maladaptive behaviors, such as drug
addiction and overeating of palatable hyper-caloric (PHc) food. In western
societies, the abundance of PHc foods has caused a dramatic increase in the
incidence of overweight/obesity and related disorders. To this regard, it has
been suggested that increased adiposity may be caused at least in part by
behavioral changes in the affected individuals that are induced by the chronic
consumption of PHc foods; some authors have even drawn attention to the
similarity that exists between over-indulgent eating and drug addiction.
Long-term misuse of certain dietary components has also been linked to chronic
neuroimmune maladaptation that may predispose individuals to neurodegenerative
conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. In this review article, we discuss recent
evidence that shows how consumption of PHc food can cause maladaptive neural
plasticity that converts short-term ingestive drives into compulsive behaviors.
We also discuss the neural mechanisms of how chronic consumption of PHc foods may
alter brain function and lead to cognitive impairments, focusing on prenatal,
childhood and adolescence as vulnerable neurodevelopmental stages to dietary
environmental insults. Finally, we outline a societal agenda for harnessing
permissive obesogenic environments.
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00019
PMCID: PMC5306218
PMID: 28261067