This article does not address the cognitive aspect of aspartame. What is the impact of 'faking out' the sugar processing components of our metabolism? Specific

This article does not address the cognitive aspect of aspartame. What is the impact of 'faking out' the sugar processing components of our metabolism? Specifically is there anything bad associated with our brains thinking that we're getting sugar and some, perhaps incomplete, chain of reactions taking place to prepare the body for sugar processing, and then the sugar never showing up? I haven't read any of the literature on it but I imagine that some of those metabolic components stay "flipped on" for longer than they would if they had real sugar exposure, because they never get what they are prepared to receive by our brains upon consumption. Disclosure: my grandfather died of pancreatic cancer and was a heavy consumer of artificial sweeteners (daily, in tea).