A sugary diet changes gut bacteria and worsens brain function in rats

By Jessica Hamzelou

Bad for your brain?

Elizabeth Perez Holowaty/Getty I

We know diets can shape the billions of bacteria that live in your gut. Now, research in rats suggests the gut bacteria may, in turn, affect brain function by changing the way genes are expressed in areas important for memory.

Scott Kanoski at the University of Southern California and his colleagues fed young rats a high-sugar diet while a separate group of rats were only fed standard chow.

Around a month later, the team tested the rats’ memory. Specifically, rats performed a task designed to measure their ability to tell whether or …