The establishment of food preferences and aversions determines the modulation of eating behaviour and the optimization of food intake. These phenomena rely on the learning and memory abilities of the organism and depend on different psychobiological mechanisms such as associative conditionings and sociocultural influences. After summarizing the various behavioural and environmental determinants of the establishment of food preferences and aversions, this paper describes several issues encountered in human nutrition when preferences and aversions become detrimental to health: development of eating disorders and obesity, aversions and anorexia in chemotherapy-treated or elderly patients and poor palatability of medical substances and drugs. Most of the relevant biomedical research has been performed in rodent models, although this approach has severe limitations, especially in the nutritional field. Consequently, the final aim of this paper is to discuss the use of the pig model to investigate the behavioural and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the establishment of food preferences and aversions by reviewing the literature supporting analogies at multiple levels (general physiology and anatomy, sensory sensitivity, digestive function, cognitive abilities, brain features) between pigs and humans.Keywords: pig, conditioned learning, eating behaviour, animal model, biomedical applications ImplicationsInvestigation of the behavioural and neurophysiological mechanisms of the establishment of food preferences and aversions can lead to important developments in the context of human nutrition and health. Because the rodent models are not always adequate in this field, there is a need to develop alternative experimental models. Pigs have numerous similarities with humans in terms of the physiology, anatomy, sensory sensitivity, cognitive abilities and brain functions. The aim of this paper is to promote the use of pigs for biomedical research in human nutrition. IntroductionFeeding is a complex behaviour, which can be described as 'the research and consumption of food and drink to maintain vital functions ' (Bellisle, 1999) and to 'fulfil the metabolic needs of the organism ' (Ferreira, 2004). Today, it is also well acknowledged that a high proportion of human food consumption in developed countries appears to be driven by pleasure (for a review, see Lowe and Butryn, 2007) and sociocultural influences. Food consumption is also involved in fundamental metabolic homeostasis regulation, as it controls the supply of energy and nutrients in the organism (Bellisle, 1999). According to Ferreira (2004), feeding behaviour implies that animals learn to consume high-energy foods and to avoid toxic foods. Establishment of food selection implies that, during its first experience with food, the organism memorizes the sensorial characteristics of the food (e.g. taste, odour, texture and visual cues) and the postingestive consequences of its ingestion, and associates these food characteristics with these consequences (Garcia et ...
A suboptimal early nutritional environment ( excess of energy, sugar, and fat intake) can increase susceptibility to diseases and neurocognitive disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate in nonobese Yucatan minipigs () the impact of maternal diet [standard diet (SD) Western diet (WD)] during gestation and 25 d of lactation on milk composition, blood metabolism, and microbiota activity of sows ( 17) and their piglets ( 65), and on spatial cognition ( 51), hippocampal plasticity ( 17), and food preferences/motivation ( 51) in the progeny. Milk dry matter and lipid content, as well as plasma total cholesterol and free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations ( < 0.05) were higher in WD than in SD sows. Microbiota activity decreased in both WD sows and 100-d-old piglets ( < 0.05 or < 0.10, depending on short-chain FAs [SCFAs]). At weaning [postnatal day (PND) 25], WD piglets had increased blood triglyceride and FFA levels ( < 0.01). Both SD and WD piglets consumed more of a known SD than an unknown high-fat and -sucrose (HFS) diet ( < 0.0001), but were quicker to obtain HFS rewards compared with SD rewards ( < 0.01). WD piglets had higher working memory ( = 0.015) and reference memory ( < 0.001) scores, which may reflect better cognitive abilities in the task context and a higher motivation for the food rewards. WD piglets had a smaller hippocampal granular cell layer ( = 0.03) and decreased neurogenesis ( < 0.005), but increased cell proliferation ( < 0.001). A maternal WD during gestation and lactation, even in the absence of obesity, has significant consequences for piglets' blood lipid levels, microbiota activity, gut-brain axis, and neurocognitive abilities after weaning.-Val-Laillet, D., Besson, M., Guérin, S., Coquery, N., Randuineau, G., Kanzari, A., Quesnel, H., Bonhomme, N., Bolhuis, J. E., Kemp, B., Blat, S., Le Huërou-Luron, I., Clouard, C. A maternal Western diet during gestation and lactation modifies offspring's microbiota activity, blood lipid levels, cognitive responses, and hippocampal neurogenesis in Yucatan pigs.
The importance of optimal early life conditions of broilers to sustain efficient and healthy production of broiler meat is increasingly recognized. Therefore, novel husbandry systems are developed, in which immediate provision of nutrition post hatch is combined with on-farm hatching. In these novel systems, 1-day-old-chick handling and transport are minimized. To study whether early nutrition and reduced transport are beneficial for broiler performance and behavior, the effects of early or delayed nutrition and post-hatch handling and transport were tested from hatch until 35 d of age, in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. In total, 960 eggs were hatched in 36 floor pens. After hatch, chicks were given immediate access to water and feed (early nutrition) or after 54 h (delayed nutrition). Eighteen hours after hatch, chicks remained in their pens (non-transported control), or were subjected to short-term handling and transport to simulate conventional procedures. Subsequently, chicks returned to their pens. Compared with delayed-fed chickens, early-fed chickens had greater body weight up to 21 d of age, but not at slaughter (35 d of age). No effects of transport or its interaction with moment of first nutrition were found on performance. At 3 d post hatch, transported, early-fed chicks had a greater latency to stand up in a tonic immobility test than transported, delayed-fed chicks, but only in chicks that were transported. At 30 d post hatch, however, latency was greater in transported, delayed-fed chickens than in transported, early-fed chicks. This may indicate long-term deleterious effects of delayed nutrition on fear response in transported chickens. It is concluded that early nutrition has mainly beneficial effects on performance during the first 2 wk post hatch, but these beneficial effects are less evident in later life. The combination of transport and early nutrition may influence the chicken's strategies to cope with stressful events in early and later life.
Maternal DHA beneficially affected offspring social behavior after weaning and mildly attenuated sickness behavior after an inflammatory challenge in pigs. These behavioral changes may be mediated by increased brain DHA proportions.
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