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WASHINGTON – A group of US officials potentially exposed to unexplained phenomena in Cuba has less white matter in the brain and less connectivity in areas that control vision and hearing than healthy people, have discovered doctors.
The discoveries of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are the most specific to date regarding the neurological state of American diplomats, spies and their families who reported strange sounds and sensations while they were used to Havana between 2016 and 2018.
Yet, while doctors found "significant differences" in their brain compared to a control group, they could not tell whether they had been caused by what had happened in Cuba or whether these differences accounted for the symptoms. Americans.
Watch Josh Lederman on Andrea Mitchell Reports today to find out more
The medical findings, revealed Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, arrive as US national security officials tell NBC News that, more than two years after the beginning of the mystery, the government has still not determined who is responsible for what happened in Havana.
The FBI, enlisted in 2017 to investigate what the United States has called "targeted attacks," has made several trips to Havana, but has exhausted all tracks of the case, told people informed of l & # 39; investigation. Although the investigation was not officially closed, no external sources of energy in Cuba have yet been identified that could have caused the injuries, they said. The FBI refused to comment.
Although the Trump administration has not relinquished its allegations that its workers in Cuba have been attacked, FBI, CIA and State Department officials are also examining the possibility that mbad psychogenic illnesses or Psychosomatic symptoms spreading across a community blame at least in some cases, officials said.
The Embbady of Cuba in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. But Dr. Mitchell Joseph Valdés-Sosa, the head of the Center for Neuroscience in Cuba who investigated the claims of the United States, said the study's methodology included major "issues of concern", including the composition of the study. control group and claims about brain changes. said could have resulted from "many factors, including psychological states."
"The most disturbing aspect is the attempt to link these discoveries to an" unspecified directional phenomenon, "Valdes-Sosa said. "The research in this area has been hidden in secrecy and driven by the paranoia of the cold war."
Twenty-six Americans who served in Cuba were "medically confirmed" by the state department. The Penn study included most of these workers, their relatives who lived with them, and other American workers who approached Penn for a potential exposure, bringing the total to 40.
Using a state-of-the-art MRI battery, researchers have created a detailed map of their brain, including the pathways and connections that allow parts of the brain to communicate with each other. Officials tell NBC News that it takes more than 24 hours for a computer to process the data and create the cards. The results of all individuals in the Cuba group were combined, then a custom software was used to compare these findings to an MRI-based map of 48 individuals of age and ethnicity Similar.
Doctors found that by measuring white matter – the nerve fibers that form the brain's communication network – Cuban patients had an average volume of 27 cubic centimeters less than that of control patients. Overall, they had similar volumes of brain matter – rich in brain cells that process information – but in some areas of the brain, Cuban patients had more gray matter.
Advanced neuroimaging, which monitors the circulation of water molecules in the brain, has revealed a decline in connectivity in vision and hearing networks, which follows many of the reported symptoms, but not in the networks that manage the symptoms. thinking process at a higher level. Nevertheless, physicians were not yet able to establish a clear link between patients' findings and symptoms, which also included problems with balance, sleep and memory.
Dr. John Torres, medical correspondent for NBC News, said the small sample size and the high sensitivity of brain scans could have produced unusual but clinically insignificant results.
"Even though, as a group, these government staff members see changes made to certain parts of their brains on MRI images, they can not be directly related to what they reported in Cuba," he said. said Dr. Torres.
In late 2016, US diplomats and intelligence agents in Cuba began reporting strange incidents described in the Penn study as "a potential exposure to uncharacteristic directional phenomena, of unknown origin," manifesting themselves by pressure, vibration or sound ". Some reported piercing ear noises in their homes at night that suddenly disappeared when they only moved a few feet apart.
The mysterious noises initially led the investigators to suspect a gun, but they ruled out the possibility that sound waves could have caused the damage. Officials explored other possibilities, such as microwaves or other sources of electromagnetic energy, as well as potential environmental causes and psychosomatic diseases.
Due to the unknown extent of the inner workings of the brain, it is unclear whether either of these theories could accurately explain the specific changes in the volume of brain matter and Connectivity identified by the MRI study, said medical experts.
The bizarre saga inflicted serious damage to a US-Cuban relationship that was only beginning to warm in recent years after half a century of hostility.
After declaring that their diplomats had been attacked, the United States withdrew most of their workers from Cuba and warned all Americans not to go there. These ties were further weakened by the Trump government crackdown on Cuba and the new imposition of sanctions and travel restrictions eased under the Obama regime.
In addition to Penn's study, the National Institutes of Health are conducting their own "brain injury research study" involving Cuban patients with the help of supercomputers from the Department of Energy and Laboratories. able to treat huge amounts of neurological data. The Department of Defense has also been hired to study technologies that could have been used to harm Americans, NBC News reported.
The state department said it is aware of Penn's new study of physicians and "welcomes the medical community's discussion on this incredibly complex issue."
"The top priority of the department remains the safety, security and well-being of its staff," said the state department in a statement.
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