The findings are thought to also relate to humans and further work will be conducted to confirm this. According to the University of Georgia scientists, a high consumption of sugar is detrimental to learning and memory when to much sugar is consumed in childhood.
The study also found that sugary drinks lead to alterations to the bacteria in the gut (the microbiome) and this also contributes to sugar-induced memory impairment. The imbalance in microbial populations leads to bacteria, called Parabacteroides, becoming enriched in the guts of animals. This has been demonstrated in rats that had never consumed sugar before the experiment was conducted.
Therefore, excessive consumption of sugar affects brain regions (notably the hippocampus ) and alters bacterial composition, both of which can independently affect memory or in combination. The growing imbalance in the gut was shown by examinations of the rats after memory tests had been conducted.
To show this effect, juvenile rats were fed their normal chow plus an 11 percent sugar solution. These concentration of sweetened water was developed to be comparable to many sugar-sweetened beverages on the market.
The rats, divided into a test group and a control group, were then given memory tests based on object discrimination and basic recognition memory. The rats given the sugary drinks performed far more poorly compared with the control group.
One reason for the impact upon cognitive function is due to the hippocampus still developing into late adolescence. This makes this region of the brain particularly vulnerable.
It has previously been established how sugar adversely affects the brain, in terms of addiction. Here sweet foods can produce addiction-like effects in the human brain, leading to the loss of self-control, overeating, and later weight gain.
The research appears in the journal Translational Psychiatry. The research paper is titled “Gut microbial taxa elevated by dietary sugar disrupt memory function.”
