Metabolic health also requires good memory

Metabolic health also requires good memory. That, in a nutshell, is the result of the study published in Nature Communications produced by the group of Professor Paolo de Girolamo of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, which includes another Federican, Raffaele Capasso of the Department of Agriculture. The research group was coordinated by Dr. Luigia Cristino of the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (CNR-Icb) in Pozzuoli, in collaboration also with the International Joint Research Unit of Université Laval (Quebec), directed by Vincenzo Di Marzo (CNR-Icb).

The research demonstrates how obese mouse models undergo alterations, in structure and function, of hippocampal circuits and the ability to perform certain cognitive tasks optimally. Specifically, as early in adult life, the condition of obesity alters the continuous generation of neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, altering the normal functioning of the episodic memory circuitry, i.e., the ability to recall personal events and, consequently, to plan future individual actions.

The study identifies two main molecules responsible for altering neurogenesis and normal functioning of episodic memory, the neuropeptide orexin and theendocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol, the action of which is altered under conditions of obesity. The results thus confirm that in the balance between hunger and satiety - governed by chemical signals such as hormones, endocannabinoids, neuropeptides, etc. - psychological factors also play a crucial role, and indeed people tend to eat more when they are distracted and episodic memory is less involved.