How early-life Western-style eating affects memory and appetite
Interactions between diet and cognition
This research looks at whether eating a Western-style, high-sugar/high-fat diet during childhood or adolescence can cause long-lasting memory problems and changes in eating later in life.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11319797 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient point of view, the team is using an early-life Western diet model to see how food in childhood or adolescence changes the brain areas that control memory and energy balance. They study the hippocampus and track behavior in animals exposed to a diet high in sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods to find lasting memory and appetite changes that appear in adulthood even without obesity. The project also examines how the gut microbiome shifts with early diet and whether those microbial changes link to memory problems. Overall the work aims to identify biological pathways that could explain why early diet influences later cognitive health.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People interested in this work would include individuals who had high-sugar/high-fat Western diets in childhood or adolescence and adults concerned about memory changes potentially tied to past diet.
Not a fit: Patients with memory loss driven primarily by advanced genetic forms of Alzheimer’s or late-stage disease may not benefit directly from findings focused on early-life dietary programming.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to diet- and microbiome-based ways to prevent or reduce dementia-related memory problems that start from poor early-life nutrition.
How similar studies have performed: Previous human and animal studies link Western-style diets to cognitive problems and gut microbiome changes, and preliminary rodent data from this team support long-lasting memory and feeding effects from early diet exposures.
Where this research is happening
Los Angeles, UNITED STATES
- University of Southern California — Los Angeles, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kanoski, Scott Edward — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Kanoski, Scott Edward
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.