Overview

• Mice fed a high-fat diet for 15 weeks gained significantly more weight and exhibited heightened anxiety-like freezing behaviors compared with lean counterparts.
• Obese mice displayed altered gene expression in the hypothalamus, suggesting disrupted brain signaling in regions governing metabolism and behavior.
• Researchers identified distinct differences in gut microbiota composition between high-fat–fed mice and those on a low-fat diet, pointing to a gut-brain axis role.
• The findings, presented at NUTRITION2025 in Orlando, Florida, underscore diet’s influence on both physical and mental health in a controlled mouse model.
• Next research phases will expand to female subjects and a broader range of ages to explore underlying mechanisms and evaluate whether weight loss interventions can reverse the observed effects.