6th Annual Judith Ramaley Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
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Poster #67 Effects of Oral Aspartame in the Open Field Task
Heather Kunkel
Faculty Mentor: John M. Holden
Aspartame is a commercially available artificial sweetener (a component of Nutrasweet and a number of low-calorie foods) which has been reported to decrease the availability of serotonin throughout the brain. For this reason, aspartame use has been linked to depression and anxiety in vulnerable populations. In this study we looked at aspartame’s effects on behavior in the open field test, a commonly employed mouse model of anxiety and depression. Young adult female C57BL/6J mice were given free access to aspartame solution (0.33% in tap water) or tap water alone for 3 weeks time, then placed in the open field apparatus and allowed to explore freely for 5 minutes. While movement related variables (rearing, grooming, and movement between quadrants) were not different between groups, the aspartame group showed a significantly lower level of excretion during the test, suggest significantly less anxiety (rather than more, as implied by previous studies) in the subjects thus exposed. |
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