Genes play a role in whether someone gets Alzheimer’s, but new research from Northeastern University psychology and bioengineering professor Craig Ferris found that diet may have a greater impact on if someone gets this disease.

Ferris was part of a study published in BMC Neuroscience that looked at male and female rats, some of which had genes that can increase the risk for Alzheimer’s. The animals were put on high-fat, high-sugar diets to see which ones had the worst cardiovascular function by the end.

Despite females being at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s, the researchers found that male rats without a genetic risk for the disease showed the most deficits when it came to cognitive performance.

Read more from Northeastern Global News.

Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University