This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bunegin, L. Articles by Tolstykh, G. P Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bunegin, L. Articles by Tolstykh, G. P Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Cognitive performance and cerebrohemodynamics associated with the Persian Gulf Syndrome

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA, bunegin{at}uthscsa.edu

Howard C Mitzel

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA

Claudia S Miller

Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA

Jerry F Gelineau

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA

Gleb P Tolstykh

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA

The Persian Gulf Syndrome generally manifests as a set of nonspecific complaints with emphasis on central nervous system impairment. The purpose of this study was to determine if cognitive performance and middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (MCABFV) were altered in symptomatic Gulf War veterans (sGWVs) and asymptomatic Gulf War veterans (aGWVs) by exposure to low levels of acetone. MCABFV was assessed in male aGWVs (n=8) and sGWVs (n=8) during cognitive challenges while breathing 1) clean air, 2) a clean air placebo, and 3) a mixture of air and 40 parts per million (ppm) acetone. Pulmonary function was also evaluated. Pulmonary function tests showed no statistical differences between aGWVs and sGWVs while breathing clean air or 40 ppm acetone in air. Cognitive performance was similar during the clean air, placebo, and acetone test conditions for sGWVs and aGWVs. Data pooled across test conditions for each group indicated a statistically significant (P <0.05) poorer performance primarily in memory and executive function tasks by sGWVs. sGWVs had a 34.2% higher baseline MCABFV than aGWVs (P <0.05). Increases in MCABFV for aGWVs (averaged over all cognitive tasks for each test condition) ranged between 7.8% and 8.8%, and were not statistically significant. Increases for sGWVs ranged between 0.3% and 4.8%, averaged over all cognitive tasks for each test condition. No significant differences were noted between the clean air and placebo test conditions but both were significantly different compared to the acetone condition. Differences in MCABFV increases for each of the test conditions between aGWVs and sGWVs were also statistically significant. sGWV did not appear to demonstrate pulmonary dysfunction following exposure to acetone. They did, however, appear to have generally lower cognitive function as compared to aGWVs. sGWVs appeared to have a significant degree of autoregulatory disruption in cerebral perfusion, resulting in reduced cognitive reserve capacity and potentially impaired ability to handle complex cognitive tasks.

Key Words: blood flow • brain • cognition • Doppler • Gulf • Persian • trancranial • war

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?