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Friday, July 3, 2009

Fructose and Memory Impairment: Where'd I Put the Splenda?

Neuroscientist Marise B. Parent of Georgia State University and her col leagues fed 11 adolescent rats a diet in which fructose supplied 60 percent of the calories. For 10 other rats, cornstarch took the place of the sweetener. The scientists trained the rats to find a submerged platform in a pool, with the help of surrounding cues.

Two days after the training ended, Parent’s group removed the pool’s platform and recorded where the rats—now adults—swam. Whereas the control group spent most of its time around the platform’s old location, the fructose-fed rats visited this area significantly less often. “They can learn” the platform’s location, Parent notes, “but they just can’t remember it for long periods.”

link: How Fructose Impairs the Memory: Scientific American

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