Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34163325›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neuroscience2021

Long-Term Overconsumption of Sugar Starting at Adolescence Produces Persistent Hyperactivity and Neurocognitive Deficits in Adulthood.

Kate Beecher, Ignatius Alvarez Cooper, Joshua Wang, Shaun B Walters, Fatemeh Chehrehasa, Selena E Bartlett, Arnauld Belmer

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. About Sugar Addiction.Brain and behavior · 2025
    Review
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  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Kate BeecherAddiction Neuroscience and Obesity Laboratory, School of Clinical Sciences, Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Ignatius Alvarez CooperAddiction Neuroscience and Obesity Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Joshua WangAddiction Neuroscience and Obesity Laboratory, School of Clinical Sciences, Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Shaun B WaltersSchool of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Fatemeh ChehrehasaAddiction Neuroscience and Obesity Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Selena E BartlettAddiction Neuroscience and Obesity Laboratory, School of Clinical Sciences, Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Arnauld BelmerAddiction Neuroscience and Obesity Laboratory, School of Clinical Sciences, Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Queensland University of Technology · AUTranslational Research Institute · AUUniversity of Queensland · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sugar has become embedded in modern food and beverages. This has led to overconsumption of sugar in children, adolescents, and adults, with more than 60 countries consuming more than four times (>100 g/person/day) the WHO recommendations (25 g/person/day). Recent evidence suggests that obesity and impulsivity from poor dietary habits leads to further overconsumption of processed food and beverages. The long-term effects on cognitive processes and hyperactivity from sugar overconsumption, beginning at adolescence are not known. Using a well-validated mouse model of sugar consumption, we found that long-term sugar consumption, at a level that significantly augments weight gain, elicits an abnormal hyperlocomotor response to novelty and alters both episodic and spatial memory. Our results are similar to those reported in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. The deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory were accompanied by altered hippocampal neurogenesis, with an overall decrease in the proliferation and differentiation of newborn neurons within the dentate gyrus. This suggests that long-term overconsumption of sugar, as that which occurs in the Western Diet might contribute to an increased risk of developing persistent hyperactivity and neurocognitive deficits in adulthood.

Indexed as

adulthoodhyperactivityneurocognitive deficitsneurogenesissucrose

Identifiers

PMID34163325
PMCPMC8215656
OpenAlexW3167181820

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.