Researchers at the University of Berkeley in California conducted research on teenagers exposed to pesticides during their childhood. Their brain function is impaired.
Studies on the consequences of pesticides on the body are increasing. This time, the University of Berkeley in California is interested in the youngest by studying the brains of teenagers exposed to pesticides during their childhood. They find that their hula hoop works differently than children who have not been exposed to these substances.
Organophosphates are among the most commonly used classes of #pesticides in the US, despite mounting evidence linking #prenatal exposure to the chemicals to poorer cognition and behavior problems in children ???????????? #BerkeleyResearch https://t.co/yIJFfc7zs1
— UC Berkeley (@UCBerkeley) August 27, 2019
The Children of “America’s Salad Bowl”
Posted in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study is based on the use of advanced brain imaging techniques called functional near-infrared imaging. 95 teenagers, born and raised in the Salinas Valley of California, were recruited. Nicknamed the “salad bowl of America”, this region of America is famous for its many crops, a large part of which is regularly treated with pesticides. The children’s cerebral activity was measured between their 15 and 17 years of age, while they performed tasks calling on their cognitive functions, their ability to understand or their attention.
A compensation mechanism of the brain
Compared to children not exposed to pesticides, the participants had a different brain functioning. Their blood flow was lower in the frontal cortex when they performed exercises that boosted their cognitive flexibility or visual memory. Conversely, they had greater blood flow in the parietal and temporal lobes when tested on their linguistic memory.
“The brain has a remarkable ability to use compensatory mechanisms to counter long-term aggression, explains Allan L. Reiss, co-author of the study. Greater activation (of an area) may be linked to recruitment and to the use of additional neural resources to remedy a functional inefficiency caused by an aggression, conversely, a weaker activation could be due to a failure of mobilization of the resources following a continuous exposure (to a substance) or a sickness.” Researchers want to continue their research on larger panels. They hope to be able to carry out the same trials with more than 500 participants.
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