Identifier

124

Date

2018

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Psychology

Concentration

Behavioral Neuroscience

Committee Chair

Deranda Lester

Committee Member

Helen Sable

Abstract

The nutritional content of food is hot topic because of physical ailments associated with unhealthy food choices. Dietary choices have also shown to affect mental functioning. For example, several studies have shown that animals and humans who consume a high fat diet are more susceptible to increased anxiety but less susceptible to drug addiction. The current study furthered this research by comparing the effect of three diets, a high fat diet (Western Diet; WD), a low-fat diet (Daniel Fast diet; DF), and standard lab chow (control), on behaviors related to anxiety and addiction in mice. Locomotor activity is a proxy for addiction by increasing dopamine. Mice were placed on one of these diets at 6 weeks old, weighed weekly, and evaluated via open field testing at 4, 8, and 12 weeks following diet initiation. As expected, the WD mice weighed significantly more than the DF and control mice starting at week 6 post diet initiation (WD = 32.4 g, DF = 29.9 g, control = 29.3 g; p = 0.015 and 0.006, respectively). At week 4 of the diet, overall locomotor activity was reduced in WD mice (622.2 cm) compared to DF (734.2 cm) and control mice (748.8 cm) (p = 0.045 and 0.035, respectively). Regarding open field testing, at week 8 the WD mice spent a lower percentage of time in the center of the chamber (12.3%) compared to DF (18.6%) and control mice (20.1%) (p = 0.055 and 0.027, respectively), indicating greater anxiety in WD mice. This reduced locomotion was confined to early in the diet exposure, perhaps as the mice were adjusting to the food effects and weight gain. Overall, these experimental diets altered weight, locomotor activity, and anxiety behaviors. Interactions between nutrition, behavior, and mental functioning may help guide treatments for related disorders.

Comments

Undergraduate Honor's Thesis

Library Comment

Honors thesis originally submitted to the Local University of Memphis Honor’s Thesis Repository.

Notes

Data is provided by the student.

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