Study discovers changes in Cuban diplomats’ brains, however no indication of attack

Researchers are as yet uncertain of why a group of US diplomats in Cuba experienced secretive neurological symptoms, however regardless they’re searching for answers. A new study published today in JAMA by the University of Pennsylvania uncovers that brain changes were found in US government authorities who were stationed in Havana. Yet, there’s still no proof to the theory that the diplomats were attacked by a sonic weapon.

The study performed propelled brain imaging on 40 government personnel who were stationed in Cuba. A group of 48 healthy patients were utilized as a control. Compared to the control group, the brains of the Cuba patients indicated particular contrasts in brain volume and connectivity. There was diminished white issue in the influenced patients. Changes in tissue volume especially affected the cerebellum – the region of the brain in charge of official working.

“The areas implicated in the patients’ brains, namely the cerebellum as well as the visuospatial and auditory networks, align with the neurological symptoms that were observed in the patients,” said lead author Ragini Verma, PhD, professor of radiology and head of the imaging lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Verma said the changes were clear even after researchers excluded the results of patients with a history of brain injuries.

In any case, outside researchers cast doubt on the study; contending that its strategies are a long way from iron-clad. First off, the imaging techniques utilized on the patients aren’t intended to discover disease, neuroscientist Douglas Fields told Gizmodo. In an editor’s note, JAMA senior editor Christopher Muth and executive editor Phil Fontanarosa conceded that the paper didn’t give clear evidence of impedance. “However, despite the differences in advanced neuroimaging metrics between patients and controls reported in this study, the clinical relevance of these differences is uncertain, and the exact nature of any potential exposure and the underlying etiology of the patients’ symptoms still remain unclear,” they composed.

The study is a follow-up to a smaller preliminary the team performed in 2016 with a group of 20 diplomats, which inferred that there were indications of neurological injury. That work was met with some reaction from the remainder of scientific community. After three years, it appears that the mystery of Havana Syndrome still hasn’t been solved. In any case, given how precarious investigating the phenomenon has been for researchers, it’s presumably best for the average individual to abstain from hopping to unlikely conclusions.