# A Dietary Mistake That May Accelerate Memory Decline Has Been Identified

Scientists from Ohio State University have found that a lack of fiber in the diet can quickly trigger memory deterioration in elderly people - and this effect occurs before excess weight or obesity manifests.

As reported by BAKU.WS, the study was published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (BBI).

The experiment involved young and old rats that were fed either a regular diet or one of five "refined" diets with varying fat and sugar content over a three-day period. All experimental diets shared one common feature - the absence of fiber, a component of plant-based foods that is not digested by enzymes but is broken down by beneficial gut microflora.

Behavioral tests showed that in older animals, regardless of fat and sugar proportions, long-term emotional memory, which is controlled by the amygdala, deteriorated. At the same time, hippocampal functions responsible for spatial and episodic memory declined primarily on a diet high in fat and low in sugar.

Biochemical analysis of blood and intestines showed a sharp decrease in butyrate levels - a short-chain fatty acid formed when dietary fiber is broken down by the microbiota. Scientists had previously pointed to the anti-inflammatory properties of butyrate and its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, while its deficiency may intensify inflammatory processes in the brain.

At the cellular level, researchers noted damage to mitochondria in microglia - the immune cells of the brain. In young animals, the energy structures adapted, whereas in older animals their function was significantly less efficient.

The authors emphasize that negative changes occurred within just a few days and were not directly dependent on obesity. They consider the lack of fiber and the associated decrease in butyrate to be the main risk factor. In the future, scientists plan to study whether supplementing the diet with fiber or butyrate could reverse age-related memory impairments.