Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism
ReviewOf ‘junk food’ and ‘brain food’: how parental diet influences offspring neurobiology and behaviour
Section snippets
‘Junk food’ and ‘brain food’: are you what you eat?
‘You are what you eat’ proposed the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach in 1848. Although much research has focused on how dietary changes have contributed to the global increases in obesity (see Glossary), only recently has the impact of diet on brain function begun to be realised. Human diet trends have dramatically shifted in the past 50 years. In the 1970s, dietary shifts moved greater proportions of food consumption away from home-cooked meals to ‘fast’ foods and with it the prevalence of
Intergenerational effects: ‘are you what your parents ate’?
Young people of childbearing age are the greatest consumers of high-fat and high-sugar foods [1]. With growing evidence that the physiological impact of nutrition has a ripple effect through the generations [19], it is vital to understand how parental diets impact cognitive function and behaviour, as well as other physiological aspects of phenotype, in offspring. While maternal diet has taken centre stage when it comes to nutritional influences on the intrauterine environment and lactation,
How parental diet influences offspring behaviour and brain function
A currently expanding field of research, referred to as ‘nutritional psychiatry’, draws links between dietary quality and the development and severity of psychiatric disorders. Along these lines, the question arises as to whether the preconceptional parental diet can impact offspring health and brain function. Metabolised carbohydrates, fats, and proteins could modulate fertilisation and offspring (neuro)development via circulating cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, leptin, and insulin (e.g.,
Mind-altering microbes? Intergenerational transmission of microbiome elements
States of chronic inflammation, such as obesity, are risk factors for depression and mood disorders [105]. However, the relationship between obesity and mood disorders is highly complex [105]. Emerging data suggest the gut microbiome, which is defined as all microbial entities, genes, proteins, and metabolic products within the gastrointestinal system, could be the missing link (Box 3) [106] and provides one mechanism by which intergenerational effects of diet may be transferred.
Concluding remarks
With obesity and mental health disorders being two of the most common health burdens in today’s society, these illnesses not only are comorbid but also have downstream effects regarding how the next generation’s brains develop by parental overweight and obesity. Mounting evidence indicates diet-induced maternal and paternal programming of infant metabolism, brain function, emotion-related behaviours, and eventually mental health. Together, these findings point towards the importance of
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant awarded to A.C.R. and A.J.H. (DP180101974). A.C.R. and A.J.H. also receive funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT1197277 and GNT1117148, respectively). A.J.H. is supported by the DHB Foundation, Equity Trustees. The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health acknowledges the strong support from the Victorian Government and, in particular, the funding from the Operational
Declaration of interests
No interests are declared.
Glossary
- Diabetic encephalopathy
- a complication of diabetes mellitus that involves a dysfunction of the nervous system and is characterized by electrophysiological, structural, and neurochemical changes, leading to cognitive impairments.
- Epigenetics
- the study of inherited functional changes to an organism that are not a direct consequence of alterations to the sequence of DNA. Changes to the epigenome can alter gene expression without altering genetic sequence information (DNA) directly. Mechanisms of
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Decoding the role of the gut microbiome in gut-brain axis, stress-resilience, or stress-susceptibility: A review
2024, Asian Journal of PsychiatryLong-lasting beneficial effects of maternal intake of sulforaphane glucosinolate on gut microbiota in adult offspring
2022, Journal of Nutritional BiochemistryCitation Excerpt :The brain–gut–microbiota axis is a complex multiorgan bidirectional signaling system between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract that plays a crucial role in the host homeostasis [8–11]. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that maternal diet is associated with the composition of the gut microbiota of the offspring [6,12–19]. However, it is unclear how maternal diet can influence the composition of gut microbiota and disease vulnerability in the offspring.
Nutrition, anxiety and hormones. Why sex differences matter in the link between obesity and behavior.
2022, Physiology and BehaviorCitation Excerpt :It is possible that responses to changes in hormonal levels induced through nutritional interventions may also show sexual dimorphism, potentially explaining discrepancies where a cafeteria-style western diet is anxiogenic in males, but not females [30]. There is also evidence that perinatal diet (of both mothers and fathers) can drive sex-specific differences in emotional behavior in offspring [11, 31], although the direction and strength of response across studies is highly variable [32]. The SRY gene of the Y chromosome drives a sudden increase in testosterone expression during gestation, prompting masculinisation [33].
3.07 - Diet, Microbiota and the Gut-Brain Axis
2022, Comprehensive Gut MicrobiotaThe menace of obesity to depression and anxiety prevalence
2022, Trends in Endocrinology and MetabolismCitation Excerpt :Diet is the primary effector of microbiota composition, but psychological stress can also modulate flora in rodents and in patients with MDD [69,70]. In addition, mounting evidence suggests that microbiota alterations mediate diet-induced parental programming of offspring neurobehavioral function and mood disorder susceptibility [71]. Chronic changes in microbiota composition in obesity (dysbiosis) are associated with inflammation, insulin resistance, and mental health deficits [72].