Review
Of ‘junk food’ and ‘brain food’: how parental diet influences offspring neurobiology and behaviour

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Highlights

  • Intergenerational associations exist between parental diet and brain function and behaviour of the offspring.

  • Reproductive parameters in males and females are altered by dietary obesity and also the consumption of a diet high in specific nutrients.

  • The parental programming of offspring behaviour can result in either sensitivity or resilience to stressors.

  • In obesity, the intergenerational programming of reward pathways in the brain could direct food choice behaviours in offspring.

  • Maternal transmission of the microbiome to offspring is likely a key influence on offspring brain function and development in the first months of life.

Unhealthy lifestyles and mental health problems are increasingly prevalent globally. Not only are ‘junk food’-induced overweight and obesity risk factors for the development of brain disorders but they are also associated intergenerationally with ill health. Here, we reflect on the current knowledge of how maternal and paternal diet influences offspring brain development and behaviour, potentially predisposing children to mental health problems. Mounting evidence indicates diet-induced maternal and paternal programming of infant metabolism and neurobehavioural function, with potential downstream effects on mental health and resilience. Beyond the central nervous system (CNS), the microbiota–gut–brain axis has emerged as an important mediator of host physiology. We discuss how intergenerational seeding of the gut microbiome via parental lineage can influence offspring gut health and neurobiology.

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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