With the high levels of sugar consumed regularly by society, scientists set out to answer a question: can’t this excessive intake have a negative impact on brain functions? Studies carried out at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science seem to confirm this risk.
Published in Science Advances, the study was based on some observations that patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder consume twice as much sugar as healthy people of similar age. In addition, people with schizophrenia and ingesting more sucrose tend to show more severe symptoms.
Until now, the link between excessive sugar consumption and worsening psychiatric disorders among susceptible people has not been proven. To try to establish this relationship, the authors carried out experiments with rats that did demonstrate the increased risk.
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For this, they selected a rat phenotype with predisposition to psychosis and observed that, when exposed to environmental factors of excessive sugar at puberty, animal models showed symptoms of mental disorders, such as reduced sensorimotor filter function, memory impairment, hyperactivity and abnormalities in electroencephalograms.
The conclusion reached by the authors was clear, that excessive sugar consumption during puberty can be a risk factor for psychiatric disorders, especially for those who already have a genetic inclination to do so.
