Aspartame and Cognitive Function?

I just think if it was created in a lab, I don't want to eat it.

Where are the ones that show brain damage? I can't seem to find them.

Thus, the administration of aspartame alone or in the presence of mild systemic inflammatory response increases oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain.

If you happen to be a lab rat, and have had the aspartame injected directly into your brain.

If, on the other hand, you happen to be a human being drinking a diet soda you'll be just fine.


Oh, and the rat study you posted where the aspartame was ingested?

Rats that had received aspartame (1000 mg/kg b.wt.) in the drinking water for 180 days

Scaled to human proportions, that's the equivalent of over 100 diet sodas a day for 6 months straight.

If you're drinking that much diet soda, you've got bigger issues than aspartame.

If, on the other hand, you happen to be a human being drinking a diet soda you'll be just fine.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18627677

Abdel-Salam OM, Salem NA, Hussein JS.
Source

Department of Toxicology and Narcotics, National Research Centre, Tahrir St., Dokki, Cairo, Egypt, omasalam@hotmail.com.
Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the effect of the sweetener aspartame on oxidative stress and brain monoamines in normal circumstances and after intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 100 μg/kg) in mice.


School of Biosciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala 686560, India.
Abstract

... Eighteen adult male Wistar rats, weighing 150-175 g, were randomly divided into three groups as follows...

If, on the other hand, you happen to be a human being drinking a diet soda you'll be just fine.

Go to his website, search for "Wakefield" or "vaccination" or "autism".
Quack, quack, quack.

I read the Wakefield article. I believe him. who's to say these triple vaccines that are used are completely safe? I also believe that the vaccine manufacturers would try to stop his research if it threatened their business.

"The GMC have found he was “misleading” “dishonest” and “irresponsible” in the way he described where the children in the 1998 paper came from, by implying that they were routine clinic referrals. As the GMC have also found, these children were subjected to a programme of unpleasant and invasive tests which were not performed in their own clinical interest, but rather for research purposes, and these tests were conducted without ethics committee approval."

and

"Even if it had been immaculately well conducted – and it certainly wasn’t – Wakefield’s “case series report” of 12 children’s clinical anecdotes would never have justified the conclusion that MMR causes autism, despite what journalists claimed: it simply didn’t have big enough numbers to do so. "

Extract from Ben Goldacre's Report on "Bad Science" web site : http://www.badscience.net/2010/01/the-wakefield-mmr-verdict/

Well done on reading Wakefield's original paper (no sarcasm intended in that statement), you have done more than many, myself included. But his research has been discredited by the scientific community whilst being misreported by the media.

Asparatame has absolutely NO effect on cognitive function... unless maybe you were to inject it directly into the brain. That might sting a little (I'm joking! Please don't insert a cannula and inject the stuff into your brain).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9734727

Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 Sep;68(3):531-7.
Aspartame: neuropsychologic and neurophysiologic evaluation of acute and chronic effects.
Spiers PA, Sabounjian L, Reiner A, Myers DK, Wurtman J, Schomer DL.
Source
Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Neurobehavioral symptoms have been reported anecdotally with aspartame.
OBJECTIVE:
This study sought to determine whether aspartame can disrupt cognitive, neurophysiologic, or behavioral functioning in normal individuals.
DESIGN:
Forty-eight healthy volunteers completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. The first month was aspartame free. Subjects then consumed sodas and capsules with placebo, aspartame, or sucrose for 20 d each. Order was randomized and subjects were assigned to either a high- (45 mg x kg body wt(-1) x d(-1)) or low- (15 mg x kg body wt(-1) x d(-1)) dose aspartame group. Neuropsychologic and laboratory testing was done on day 10 of each treatment period to determine possible acute effects and on day 20 for possible chronic effects.
RESULTS:
Plasma phenylalanine concentrations increased significantly during aspartame treatment. Neuropsychologic results; adverse experiences; amino acid, insulin, and glucose values; and electroencephalograms were compared by sex and by treatment. No significant differences were found for any dependent measure.
CONCLUSION:
Large daily doses of aspartame had no effect on neuropsychologic, neurophysiologic, or behavioral functioning in healthy young adults.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8277950

N Engl J Med. 1994 Feb 3;330(5):301-7.
Effects of diets high in sucrose or aspartame on the behavior and cognitive performance of children.
Wolraich ML, Lindgren SD, Stumbo PJ, Stegink LD, Appelbaum MI, Kiritsy MC.
Source
Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Both dietary sucrose and the sweetener aspartame have been reported to produce hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children.
METHODS:
We conducted a double-blind controlled trial with two groups of children: 25 normal preschool children (3 to 5 years of age), and 23 school-age children (6 to 10 years) described by their parents as sensitive to sugar. The children and their families followed a different diet for each of three consecutive three-week periods. One diet was high in sucrose with no artificial sweeteners, another was low in sucrose and contained aspartame as a sweetener, and the third was low in sucrose and contained saccharin (placebo) as a sweetener. All the diets were essentially free of additives, artificial food coloring, and preservatives. The children's behavior and cognitive performance were evaluated weekly.
RESULTS:
The preschool children ingested a mean (+/- SD) of 5600 +/- 2100 mg of sucrose per kilogram of body weight per day while on the sucrose diet, 38 +/- 13 mg of aspartame per kilogram per day while on the aspartame diet, and 12 +/- 4.5 mg of saccharin per kilogram per day while on the saccharin diet. The school-age children considered to be sensitive to sugar ingested 4500 +/- 1200 mg of sucrose per kilogram, 32 +/- 8.9 mg of aspartame per kilogram, and 9.9 +/- 3.9 mg of saccharin per kilogram, respectively. For the children described as sugar-sensitive, there were no significant differences among the three diets in any of 39 behavioral and cognitive variables. For the preschool children, only 4 of the 31 measures differed significantly among the three diets, and there was no consistent pattern in the differences that were observed.
CONCLUSIONS:
Even when intake exceeds typical dietary levels, neither dietary sucrose nor aspartame affects children's behavior or cognitive function.

There are other studies. Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

Good luck!