New Scans Show ‘Something Happened To The Brain’ Of Diplomats Who Were Stationed In Cuba But Mystery Remains
The medical mystery around the symptoms the diplomats experienced deepens with new research on their brains. But the nature and cause of that trauma were not clear, as it did not resemble the signature of more familiar brain injuries such as repeated concussions or exposure to battlefield blasts.
The New York Times:
Were U.S. Diplomats Attacked In Cuba? Brain Study Deepens Mystery
In late 2016, dozens of United States diplomats working in Cuba and China began reporting odd mental symptoms: persistent headaches, vertigo, blurred vision, hearing phantom sounds. Since then, scientists and commentators have groped for plausible explanations. Deliberate physical attacks, involving microwaves or other such technology? Or were psychological factors, subconscious yet mind-altering, the more likely cause? The strangeness of the symptoms, and the spookiness of the proposed causes, have given the story a life of its own in the diplomatic corps, the Pentagon and in assorted pockets of the internet where conspiracy theories thrive. (Carey, 7/23)
Reuters:
Scans Show Changes To Brains Of Havana U.S. Embassy Workers Who Reported Illness
Advanced brain scans of U.S. Embassy employees who reported falling ill while serving in Havana revealed significant differences from a control group, according to a new study published on Tuesday. The finding does little, however, to resolve the cause of a string of mysterious health incidents that led the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw many personnel from Cuba. (7/23)
Los Angeles Times:
Victims Of Havana Embassy ‘Sonic Attack’ Have Distinctly Different Brains, MRIs Show
Given the workers’ reported symptoms — balance problems, sleep and thinking difficulties, headaches and other complaints — the researchers had expected the cerebellum, near the brain stem, to be affected. But they also found unique patterns in tissue connecting brain regions. (Tanner, 7/23)
CNN:
Cuba 'Sonic Attacks' Changed People's Brains, Study Suggests
Differences in connectivity were also observed in the brain's auditory and visuospatial areas, according to the study. However, the authors note that the clinical importance of these findings is uncertain, and they didn't have earlier MRIs of the patients to compare what their brains looked like before the incidents. (Nedelman and Azad, 7/23)
NPR:
Brain Scans Find Differences But No Injury In U.S. Diplomats Who Fell Ill In Cuba
But those differences "do not reflect the imaging differences that we see in [traumatic brain injury] or concussion," Verma says. "All you can say is something happened, which caused their brain to change," she says. And even that conclusion was challenged by brain scientists who have been skeptical that any diplomat was attacked or injured from what became known as "Havana syndrome." (Hamilton, 7/23)
