Effects of Butter and Cheese on Memory and Learning in Rats

Nutrition affects physical status, brain function, memory and learning. High-fat diets can cause memory impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of cheese and butter on the memory and learning of male rats.

Totally, 24 Wistar male rats (8-week old) were divided into three equal groups and fed with high-fat chow diets (control group) or two experimental diets of butter and cheese for 12 weeks. Then, spatial memory and passive avoidance learning (PAL) were assessed using Morris water maze test and shuttle-box apparatus, respectively.

In PAL test, step-through latencies in retention (STLr) test and time spent in the dark compartment (TDC) were significantly different between the groups. The step-through latencies in retention scores of the butter group were significantly lower than that of the control and cheese groups. However, dark compartment of the butter group was significantly greater than that of the control and cheese groups. In Morris water maze test, no significant differences were seen in escape latency, travelled distance and mean swimming speed of the various groups. During the probe trial, the butter groups spent significantly less time in the target quadrant than that the control and cheese groups did.

In general, cheese includes further favourable effects on spatial memory and PAL, compared to that butter groups do.