Effects of a high-fat diet on impulsive choice in rats. 2021

Tyler S Garman, and Barry Setlow, and Caitlin A Orsini
Department of Neuroscience; McKnight Brain Institute.

Obesity and binge eating disorder are associated with high levels of impulsivity, but the causal role of eating and palatable food in these associations is unclear. Studies in rodents show that a high-fat diet can increase one aspect of impulsivity (impulsive action); it is less clear, however, whether a dissociable aspect of impulsivity (impulsive choice) is similarly affected. Hence, the aim of this study was to ascertain whether chronic exposure to a high-fat diet would alter impulsive choice. Male rats were maintained on either a high-fat or control chow diet for two weeks ad libitum. They then underwent equi-caloric food restriction for the duration of the experiment, with each group maintained on their respective diet. To measure impulsive choice, rats were trained on a delay discounting task (DDT) in which they made discrete choices between a lever that delivered a small food reward immediately and a lever that delivered a large food reward accompanied by systematically increasing delays. Upon reaching stable performance on the DDT, rats were given acute systemic injections of amphetamine prior to testing in the DDT to determine whether increased monoamine transmission affected impulsive choice differently in the two diet groups. Lastly, subjects were tested on a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement to assess motivation for a sucrose reward. There was no significant effect of the high-fat diet on impulsive choice. Further, amphetamine decreased choice of the large, delayed reward (increased impulsive choice) to the same extent in both groups. Exposure to the high-fat diet did, however, increase motivation to obtain a sucrose reward. These experiments reveal that, under conditions that do not promote weight gain, a chronic high-fat diet does not affect impulsive choice in a delay discounting task. The data are surprising in light of findings showing that this same diet alters impulsive action, and highlight the necessity of further research to elucidate relationships between palatable food consumption and impulsivity.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007175 Impulsive Behavior An act performed without delay, reflection, voluntary direction or obvious control in response to a stimulus. Impulsivity,Behavior, Impulsive,Behaviors, Impulsive,Impulsive Behaviors,Impulsivities
D008297 Male Males
D002755 Choice Behavior The act of making a selection among two or more alternatives, usually after a period of deliberation. Approach Behavior,Approach Behaviors,Behavior, Approach,Behavior, Choice,Behaviors, Approach,Behaviors, Choice,Choice Behaviors
D003216 Conditioning, Operant Learning situations in which the sequence responses of the subject are instrumental in producing reinforcement. When the correct response occurs, which involves the selection from among a repertoire of responses, the subject is immediately reinforced. Instrumental Learning,Learning, Instrumental,Operant Conditioning,Conditionings, Operant,Instrumental Learnings,Learnings, Instrumental,Operant Conditionings
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012201 Reward An object or a situation that can serve to reinforce a response, to satisfy a motive, or to afford pleasure. Rewards
D051381 Rats The common name for the genus Rattus. Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus
D059305 Diet, High-Fat Consumption of excessive DIETARY FATS. Diet, High Fat,Diets, High Fat,Diets, High-Fat,High Fat Diet,High Fat Diets,High-Fat Diet,High-Fat Diets
D065786 Delay Discounting The tendency to devalue an outcome as a function of its temporal delay or probability of achievement. It can be evaluated in a psychological paradigm that involves the choice between receiving a smaller immediate reward or a larger delayed reward, and may be used to provide a measure of impulsive behavior. Deferred Gratification,Delayed Gratification,Intertemporal Decision Making,Intertemporal Decision-Making,Intertemporal Preferences,Temporal Discounting,Decision Making, Intertemporal,Decision-Making, Intertemporal,Discounting, Delay,Discounting, Temporal,Gratification, Deferred,Gratification, Delayed,Intertemporal Preference,Preference, Intertemporal,Preferences, Intertemporal

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