Underwood, Erica L.Thompson, Lucien T.2016-07-212016-07-212016-01-012090-5904http://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/4963While high-fat diets are associated with rising incidence of obesity/type-2 diabetes and can induce metabolic and cognitive deficits, sex-dependent comparisons are rarely systematically made. Effects of exclusive consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) on systemic metabolism and on behavioral measures of hippocampal-dependent memory were compared in young male and female LE rats. Littermates were fed from weaning either a HFD or a control diet (CD) for 12 wk prior to testing. Sex-different effects of the HFD were observed in classic metabolic signs associated with type-2 diabetes. Males fed the HFD became obese, and had elevated fasted blood glucose levels, elevated corticosterone, and impaired glucose-tolerance, while females on the HFD exhibited only elevated corticosterone. Regardless of peripheral metabolism alteration, rats of both sexes fed the HFD were equally impaired in a spatial object recognition memory task associated with impaired hippocampal function. While the metabolic changes reported here have been characterized previously in males, the set of diet-induced effects observed here in females are novel. Impaired memory can have significant cognitive consequences, over the short-term and over the lifespan. A significant need exists for comparative research into sex-dependent differences underlying obesity and metabolic syndromes relating systemic, cognitive, and neural plasticity mechanisms.enCC BY 4.0 (Attribution)©2016 The Authorshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Blood sugarDiet, High-FatMemory disordersRatsNeuroplasticityObesityNon-insulin-dependent diabetesSex factors in diseaseTextUnderwood, E. L., and L. T. Thompson. 2016. "A high-fat diet causes impairment in hippocampal memory and sex-dependent alterations in peripheral metabolism." Neural Plasticity 2016, doi:10.1155/2016/7385314.2016