Effects of Highly Palatable Diet on motivation for food and resistance to punishment in rats: Role of sex and age of exposure

In this study, we investigated the persistent effects of an intermittent 8-week exposure to HPD in male and female rats as a function of age of exposure (adult and adolescent). We found that intermittent exposure to HPD did not alter body weight, but it affected consumption of standard food during the time of exposure in all groups. In addition, in adults, HPD produced a decrease in the initial baseline responding in FR1 schedules, an effect that persisted for 4 weeks in males but not in female rats. However, we found that exposure to HPD did not affect resistance to punishment measured by progressive shock strength break points or motivation for food as measured by progressive-ratio break points regardless of sex or age of exposure. Altogether, these results do not provide support for the hypothesis that intermittent exposure to HPD produce persistent increases in the vulnerability to develop addiction-like behaviors towards palatable food.PMID:38582135 | DOI:10.1016/j.appet.2024.107340
Source: Appetite - Category: Nutrition Authors: Source Type: research