Saturday, July 3, 2010

Study: Gulf war chemicals cause mood changes, memory deficits in laboratory rats

By Anthony Hardie

Graphic:  Lab Rat Cartoon

(91outcomes.com) - During last week’s meeting of the Congressionally chartered U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ illnesses (RACGWVI), Dr. Ashok Shetty of the Durham VA Medical Center gave a presentation entitled, “Neural Stem Cell Dysfunction and its implications on memory and mood in a rat model.”

Dr. Shetty’s research showed clear evidence of brain dysfunction in key parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, which controls emotion and is involved in the complex processes of forming, sorting, and storing memories.

  In particularly, the part of the hippocampus that contains stem cells involved in regeneration of the brain is affected in Gulf War veterans.

2 comments:

Karl said...

Thanks for sharing that information. Rats are always used for scientific experiments.

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Dale said...

They should probably avoid these types of chemicals so they can maintain the mood and boost the memory of the laboratory rats.

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