According to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, consuming unhealthy food, high in fat and sugar, may have negative long-term effects on spatial memory. The spatial memory is part of the memory responsible for the recording of information about one's environment and spatial orientation. The scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia investigated cognitive function in rats that alternated between a 'cafeteria diet' of foods high in fat and sugar -- like pies, cake, biscuits and chips -- and their regular, healthy diet over a period of six weeks in intervals of either three, five, or seven consecutive days, separated by their healthy chow diet. They found that the rats' spatial memory recognition deteriorated in increments according to their pattern of access to junk food -- the more days in a row they ate junk food, the worse their memory got.

Professor Margaret Morris from the UNSW School of Medical Sciences and senior author of the study said, "Anything over three days a week of eating badly impacted memory in these animals. We all know that a healthy diet with minimal junk foods is good for our overall health and performance, but this paper shows that it is critical for optimal brain function as well".

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The research study 

By familiarising them with two objects, the researchers tested the rats' spatial memory initially. Following this, they repositioned one of the objects and monitored the rats' ability to recognise a change in their environment. According to Morris, a healthy animal would be more likely to explore the object that had been moved. Hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for helping us find things and navigate spaces. The researchers saw a change in this part of the brain of the rats with the diet-related changes. 

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Inferences

The study showed that poor diet directly affects brain function. Moreover, there were changes in the physical appearance of the rats as well. With junk food, they were considerably heavier, longer and had greater fat mass than those on the three-day schedule. The study bore a resemblance to the human diet as the junk food was fed in intervals as humans do, unlike other studies which feed unrestrainedly. While the study produced important results, researches hoped that humans would follow the motive behind the study.

"I think these kinds of experiments where animals have access only some of the time is a better model. I hope this paper starts to add to a more accurate idea of what happens when we eat unhealthily part of the time, not all of the time. It is notoriously difficult to do this kind of work in humans, due to ethical concerns," said the lead author of the paper, Michael Kendig.

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(With inputs from PTI)