High-calorie diet causes brain nerve abnormalities, researchers find

A team of researchers has found that a cognitive decline from a continued habit of eating high-calorie food is due to abnormalities in the synapses, junctions between nerve cells.

While previous studies had shown that a continued high-calorie diet slows down brain functions, researchers had yet to unravel the complex mechanism on a molecular level.

The findings by the team, including Hitoshi Okazawa, professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo, were published in September in international science journal Molecular Psychiatry.

In an experiment, the team had some mice on a high-calorie diet for either one or six weeks to compare their nerve cells on a molecular level with those of mice given regular food.

The team observed a decline in polyglutamine binding protein 1, or PQBP1, in mice given a high-calorie diet. The protein regulates the production of proteins necessary for proper nerve cell transmission.

Upon further analysis, the team found that insulin had restricted the mechanism to create PQBP1 among mice on a high-calorie diet, resulting in abnormalities in synaptic components and subsequently a decline in neural circuit functions.

The synaptic abnormalities and declined cognitive functions were improved once the mice went through treatment to add PQBP1 or drugs to treat diabetes.

Okazawa said that a further study may help prevent Alzheimer’s among people with diabetes or obesity.