Oral Presentation ANZOS Annual Scientific Meeting 2021

Cognitive, behavioural and metabolic effects of time-restricted access to healthy and unhealthy diets in rats (#84)

Margaret J Morris 1 , Arya L Shinde 1 , Michael Leong 1 , Michael D Kendig 1
  1. UNSW, Kensington, NSW, Australia

Time-restricted feeding (TRF) is a popular dietary intervention for weight loss and maintenance in which daily food intake is confined to an 8-12 hour window. Evidence from observational studies and randomized clinical trials indicates that TRF can aid in the management of obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions. By contrast, the cognitive and behavioural effects of TRF interventions are less well understood, with studies reporting both neutral and positive effects. Understanding how TRF influences cognition and brain function is critical, as the adverse effects of unhealthy diets on cognition may sabotage the ability to adhere to dietary interventions and control food choice. Here we report interim results from an ongoing study exposing adult male Sprague-Dawley rats to continuous or time-restricted access (8hr/day; ZT12-20) to chow (chow and TRF-chow groups) or a varied, palatable cafeteria-style diet (Caf; Caf and TRF-Caf groups; n=12/group) rich in sugar and fat, which doubles energy intake relative to chow under ad-libitum conditions. Preliminary data show that TRF transiently suppressed energy intake in chow-fed rats. By contrast, TRF halved intake in rats fed Caf diet, such that energy intake of TRF-Caf and chow groups was comparable. Accordingly, after 3 weeks of the diets, TRF abrogated the increase in weight gain associated with Caf diet consumption, and reduced the rate of weight gain in rats fed chow. Tests conducted after 3 weeks of diet indicated that any form of access to Caf diet increased anxiety-like behaviour on the Elevated Plus Maze. Results from cognitive tests of short-term memory, and measures of adiposity and fasting glucose will be presented alongside detailed analyses of macronutrient intake over time. The daily measurement of energy intake provides an opportunity to test whether macronutrient intake is associated with behavioural and metabolic measures under both continuous and TRF conditions.