How Food Choices Shape Memory, Cognition & Cravings | Dr. Scott Kanoski

October 12, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In one study, people who were primed to remember a pizza lunch they had eaten a few hours earlier consumed fewer cookies at a subsequent taste test than people who were not primed. The memory of a recent meal directly influenced how much they ate next. This is one of many examples Dr. Scott Kanoski, a professor at USC who studies how diet, hunger, and memory interact, discussed with Andrew Huberman. The conversation covered how the gut and brain communicate, how ultra-processed foods and sugar can impair memory, and what the new class of GLP-1 drugs actually does to the body and brain.

How GLP-1 Drugs Work and What We Don't Know

GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) is a natural hormone secreted from the intestines during a meal. It helps regulate blood glucose by stimulating insulin secretion and also suppresses appetite. The popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy increase GLP-1 levels to supraphysiological levels—thousandfold higher than what occurs naturally. A key question is exactly how these drugs reduce hunger. Kanoski explained that a major mechanism is likely a "paracrine" action: GLP-1 released from intestinal L cells acts on nearby receptors on the vagus nerve, which then signals the brainstem that the animal has had enough food. When the sensory vagus nerve is lesioned, native GLP-1 no longer suppresses food intake.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Diet-Induced Memory Impairments** - Dr. Kanoski introduces his lab's foundational finding: early-life high-sugar or junk-food diets cause lasting hippocampal-dependent memory deficits in rodents, even after switching to healthy food.
2 (03:01) **GLP-1 Basics: Natural Function & Drug Mechanism** - Dr. Kanoski explains what GLP-1 is in its natural form, how it suppresses appetite, and the key role of the vagus nerve.
3 (04:57) **GLP-1 Drugs: Super-Physiological Levels & Brain Entry** - The conversation covers the massive increase in GLP-1 levels from drugs like Ozempic, their side effects, and the controversial question of whether they enter the brain.
4 (06:16) **Microdosing GLP-1s & Non-Weight-Loss Benefits** - Dr. Kanoski addresses the trend of microdosing GLP-1 drugs and the anecdotal reports of cognitive and energy benefits independent of weight loss.
5 (14:02) **How GLP-1s Suppress Hunger: The Vagus Nerve & "Food Noise"** - Dr. Kanoski details the biological mechanism of satiation from GLP-1s and explores the concept of "food noise."
6 (18:55) **Artificial Sweeteners: The Evidence & A Preclinical Study** - Dr. Kanoski reviews the controversial state of evidence on low-calorie sweeteners and presents his lab's developmental study in rodents.
7 (26:24) **How Memory of Eating Controls Future Intake** - Dr. Kanoski explains the powerful role of memory in regulating how much we eat at subsequent meals.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Andrew Huberman

Show Notes

Dr. Scott Kanoski, PhD, is a Professor of Human and Evolutionary Biology and Neurobiology at the University of Southern California. We discuss how different foods impact memory and cognitive function as well as cravings. We also discuss how GLP-1 drugs work to control hunger in the brain and body, the role of the gut microbiome, and the effects of artificial and low calorie sweeteners on hunger and satiety. This episode highlights how nutrition impacts much brain health and learning capacity and how our memory impacts food choices too.

Read the full episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Scott Kanoski

(00:02:33) GLP-1, Natural GLP-1 Production; GLP-1 Drugs, Microdosing

(00:07:06) GLP-1 Drugs & Benefits

(00:10:36) Sponsor: Our Place & Helix Sleep

(00:13:24) GLP-1 & Hunger Suppression, Vagus Nerve; Food Noise

(00:18:39) Artificial Sweeteners & Appetite, Preclinical Studies

(00:26:50) Memory & Meals; Stress; Eating & Individualization, Fasting

(00:33:42) Memory Impairments, Western Diet, High Sugar, Processed Food

(00:42:33) Sponsor: AG1

(00:43:46) Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease & Western Diet; Exercise

(00:49:40) Vagus Nerve, Hippocampus & Memory, Hormones

(00:57:10) Sugar & Fat Consumption, Memory; Engineering Food for Quality

(01:04:32) GLP-1s, Nutrient Deficiency, Weight Loss & Other Effects

(01:11:33) Sponsor: LMNT

(01:12:54) Vagus Nerve & Hippocampus, Eating & Acetylcholine

(01:21:05) Hippocampus, Memory & Food; Interoceptive Awareness & Western Diet

(01:27:21) Omega-3s; Microbiome & Processed Foods

(01:34:00) Microbiome, Antibiotics, C. diff Infection

(01:37:23) Sponsor: Function

(01:39:01) Foods to Enhance Microbiome; Rising Obesity & Highly Processed Food

(01:43:39) Dopamine & Food Choice, Change Food Cravings

(01:49:50) Food Addiction, Highly Processed Foods; Political Lobbying

(01:56:43) Oxytocin, Reduced Food Consumption, Social Eating

(02:00:11) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

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