Learning and memory deficits produced by aspartame are heritable via the paternal lineage.

ABSTRACT: Environmental exposures produce heritable traits that can linger in the population for one or two generations. Millions of individuals consume substances such as artificial sweeteners daily that are declared safe by regulatory agencies without evaluation of their potential heritable effects. We show that consumption of aspartame, an FDA-approved artificial sweetener, daily for up to 16-weeks at doses equivalent to only 7-15% of the FDA recommended maximum daily intake value (equivalent to 2-4 small, 8 oz diet soda drinks per day) produces significant spatial learning and memory deficits in mice. Moreover, the cognitive deficits are transmitted to male and female descendants along the paternal lineage suggesting that aspartame's adverse cognitive effects are heritable, and that they are mor

SUBMITTER: Jones SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10471780 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature