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Small nibbles and snacks at night might make you stack up the pounds in your body. But there might be more than that, according to new research. It could be damaging your brain too, according to the Daily Mail.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, showed in a study that snacking at night could not only affect your weight and health but even lead to problems with the brain.

Dawn Loh is the main author for the study and discovered that the hippocampus, "the part of the brain where memories are formed," actually gets a bit damaged when we consume some food that gets digested while we sleep.

The scientists tested their theory with the help of lab mice, which were given some food before they fell asleep. They found that they got affected, as both their short and long-term memory got negatively influenced.

"For the first time, we have shown that simply adjusting the time when food is made available alters the molecular clock in the hippocampus and can alter the cognitive performance of mice," said Loh. "Since many people find themselves working or playing during times when they'd normally be asleep, it is important to know that this could dull some of the functions of the brain."