For two months, lab rats were given sugary lemonade as part of the study. Since then, it’s clear that the rodents have grown completely dimwitted. Do you think it’s possible for humans?

New research published in the journal Experimental Gerontology reveals that rats’ brains are negatively affected by consuming sugary drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Damage to memory, mental illness, and cell stress are all results.

Sugary drinks are not good for you. As we all know, the sugars and other sweeteners included in these beverages may contribute to a variety of health issues, including diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, liver troubles, and more.

Researchers at Brazil’s Federal University of Santa Catarina, headed by Michelle Garcez, have found evidence that they may also affect human brains.

Scientists investigated the effects of giving rats sugary beverages on brain tissue and behavior. People who like sugary, carbonated drinks will be disappointed with the findings.

Two-month-old rats, eight-month-old rats, and fourteen-month-old rats all participated in the experiment. Both water and lemonade were given to the rats, but only some of them drank water.

The mice and rats were put through a labyrinth test after two months. Unfortunately, rats that drank lemonade had a more difficult time escaping the labyrinth than those who drank water.

The cognitive capacities of the “lemonade” rats were much below average, and they also had impaired memory. While the effects of lemonade were most pronounced in rats and mice two and eight months of age, they were still present in the oldest of the animals. Only water-drinking rats showed markedly improved maze performance.

The second stage of the investigation, in which the experimental rats were killed and their nerve tissues removed, corroborated the harmful impact of sugary beverages on the brains of rats. On closer inspection, the frontal lobes of the brains of “lemonade” rats of all ages were damaged to varied degrees.

The hippocampus, critical for memory and learning, is located in this cortex, along with other critical mental processes including attention, memory, and judgment.

Injury to the hippocampus is a major factor in many mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and others; damage to the frontal cortex is linked to personality changes and extreme impulsivity.

“The findings indicate that memory loss and oxidative stress are the end outcomes of drinking sugary drinks regularly. Soda use has been linked to a variety of negative behavioral effects, especially in young organisms “In an article summarizing the results, the authors

Rats are not humans, although they are quite similar to us. Consequently, it is not possible to extrapolate the study’s findings to the general population, but… maybe one day there will be cautionary labels on lemonades. It’s possible a warning about potential damage to one’s brain would be included.