Assessing the Impact of Synthetic Sweeteners on Hunger Perception in Drosophila Melanogaster

Overview

The consumption of natural sugars leads to a dopamine surge in the nucleus accumbens, a vital area of the mesolimbic dopamine system. Artificial sweeteners, a low-calorie alternative to natural sugars, are typically marketed toward individuals with diabetes and other health conditions that require low-calorie diets. Since artificial sweeteners are zero-calorie, they are not metabolized into units of usable energy, meaning that they cannot fully activate reward pathways and cause a dopamine increase. This known characteristic could potentially lead to an increase in quantity of consumption in an attempt to fully activate the dopamine system’s neurological pathways. This research seeks to determine whether consuming three different synthetic sweeteners leads to an increase in quantity of consumption when compared to sucrose, a natural sugar. Four groups of eight wild-type Drosophila Melanogaster were fed either a control 3M sucrose solution, a 5% sucralose solution, a 5% acesulfame-potassium solution, or a 5% aspartame solution. Flies were monitored over periods of 1 and 3 days. Food consumption was measured using the Capillary Feeder Assay. Liquid food was declines. Based on the t-test statistical analysis, Drosophila Melanogaster consumes up to twice as much synthetic sweetener as it does pure sucrose solution (≈61.84% increase in sucralose consumption, ≈68.09% increase in acesulfame-potassium consumption, ≈93.75% increase in aspartame consumption). This research establishes the impact of artificial sweeteners on quantity of consumption when compared to a natural sugar.

Competition history

• JSHS 2023 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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