The “Western” diet, with its high sugar content and low levels of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3), has been linked to various cognitive deficits and mental disorders in animal models and humans. We have examined whether a dietary deficiency in n-3 in combination with increased sugar consumption affects working memory in rats. Wistar rats were bred and fed a high-sugar diet over several generations. The animals were randomly assigned to two groups: a group receiving physiologically adequate amounts of n-3 and a group fed an n-3-deficient diet. Thirty-one male, fourth generation rats were tested in a radial arm maze in order to assess working memory performance. Compared to rats receiving a diet with sufficient n-3, the n-3-deprived animals erred more frequently on working memory tasks, indicating that n-3 reduction in rats on a sugar-rich diet may have negative effects on working memory additional to those associated with high sugar consumption.

“西方”饮食具有高糖含量和低水平的omega-3脂肪酸（n-3）含量，与动物模型和人类的各种认知缺陷和精神障碍有关。我们已经检查了n-3中的饮食缺乏与糖摄入增加相结合是否会影响大鼠的工作记忆。饲养Wistar大鼠，并在几代后饲喂高糖饮食。将动物随机分为两组：一组接受生理上适当量的n-3，另一组则饲喂n-3缺乏饮食。为了评估工作记忆性能，在a臂迷宫中测试了31只雄性第四代大鼠。与接受n-3足够饮食的大鼠相比，被n-3-剥夺的动物在工作记忆任务中犯错的频率更高，