Alterations in attention and memory in people with normal body mass index related to frequent sucralose or sucrose intake
Authors: de Sagrario López‐Meza María , Estrada José Antonio , Otero‐Ojeda Gloria Adelina , Esquivel‐Hernández Francisco José , Contreras Irazú 
Published: June 2021

Increased sugar intake is associated with development of chronic diseases such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus; in consequence, non‐nutritive sweeteners have been implemented as a nutritional intervention to reduce sugar consumption. However, food and beverages sweetened with these compounds have become part of the regular human diet and little is known about their possible effects on people's physiology, particularly on their cognitive functions.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of prolonged consumption of sucralose or sucrose on cognitive functions (attention and memory) in humans, using a neuropsychological test. In order to do so, we selected 26 healthy women and men, between 18 and 35 years old, with normal body mass index (18 to 24.9 Kg/m2), which were randomly divided into 2 experimental groups: sucralose or sucrose. The study lasted seven weeks, which included a washout week period (eliminating daily consumed foods and beverages with added sweeteners), followed by six weeks of commercial sweetener supplementation. At the end of the washout period, the first assessment for attention and memory cognitive functions was performed with the NEUROPSI test, after which specific sweetener supplementation was randomly assigned to each subject. Participants were provided either four 1g packets of commercial sucralose or eight 5g packets of commercial sucrose per day for the duration of the study (1 packet of commercial sucralose is equivalent in sweetness to 10g of sucrose). All participants consumed their assigned sweetener throughout the day in unsweetened beverages of their choice. After six weeks of supplementation, the NEUROPSI test for attention and memory was performed again, following the same order and under the same conditions used in the first test.

Our results showed no significant differences in participants' performance in the attention test between groups. However, subjects in the sucralose group showed a significant decrease in memory performance, with lower overall scores (p=0.001), with differences being particularly evident in the sub‐areas of encoding memory and working memory (p=0.001 and p=0.012, respectively). In contrast, subjects in the sucrose group did not show significant differences in their general memory scores, although a significant decrease in encoding memory performance was detected (p=0.003).

In summary, the results from the present study provide preliminary evidence that frequent intake of non‐nutritive sweeteners may promote alterations in cognitive functions related to learning and memory, and emphasize the need for additional studies to determine the possibility of adverse neurological effects related to inadequate use of these substances.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.