Early life food insecurity in male rats impairs memory function during adulthood.

ABSTRACT: Approximately 14% of U.S. households are food insecure. The neurocognitive and metabolic impacts of unpredictable food access during early-life periods of development are poorly understood. To address these gaps we devised a novel rat model of food insecurity to control the timing, type, and quantity of accessible food using programmable feeders. Male rats were divided into 3 groups: Secure-chow (SC), a control group given 100% of daily estimated caloric intake, distributed evenly across 4 daily meals of standard chow at set mealtimes; Secure-mixed (SM), a 2nd control group identical to the SC group except that the food type predictably alternated daily between chow and a high-fat, high-sugar diet (HFHS); and Insecure-mixed (IM), the experimental group given randomly alternating daily acce

SUBMITTER: Kao AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12494189 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature