A series of alleged “sonic attacks” by a mysterious weapon may have caused the brains of American diplomats who served at the United States embassy in Cuba to shrink, according to a new scientific study.
In 2017 Washington
recalled
the majority of its personnel from the US embassy in Havana and at
least two more diplomats from the US consulate in the Chinese city of
Guangzhou. The evacuees reported experiencing “unusual acute auditory or
sensory phenomena” and “unusual sounds or piercing noises”. Subsequent
tests showed that they suffered from sudden and unexplained loss of
hearing, and possibly from various forms of brain injuries. In April of
this year the Canadian embassy evacuated all family members of its
personnel stationed in the Cuban capital over similar health concerns.
Subsequently, the US issued a travel warning advising its citizens to
stay away from the island and accused Cuba of neglecting to ensure the
safety of US diplomatic personnel stationed there.
The theory that a sonic weapon caused the
diplomats’ ailments is not universally held, with some scientists
doubting the validity of such claims. But now a new study
may have provided a tangible and measurable link that connects the
physiological symptoms suffered by the diplomats. The study, published
in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association,The
study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association, is based on a detailed examination of data from
magnetic resonance imaging studies that assessed both structural and
functional endpoints of the brains of the victims of the alleged sonic
attacks. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania took these images
of the brains of 40 individuals who complained of acute auditory and
other sensory disturbances while in Cuba, and compared them with those
of healthy participants. The latter were matched with the patients for
age, lifestyle and general background. According to the study, the
comparison revealed statistically significant differences in various
structures of the subjects’ brains. The differences were most pronounced
in the white matter of their brains. The white matter is important
because it is comprised of the myelin-protected nerve fibers that are
responsible for transmitting the electrical signals from one brain cell
(neuron) to another. Damage to these regions would result in a reduction
of the brain’s ability to process information as rapidly as the brains
of non-affected individuals. According to the study, the volume of white
matter in the brains of the alleged sonic attack victims was
approximately five percent smaller than that in the brains of healthy
adults.
One of the scientists behind the study told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph
that his team of researchers have not seen “anything like it before”.
But he added that he and his colleagues are “not sure […] what it is”,
though “there does appear to be something there”. Another expert told
the paper that the findings of the University of Pennsylvania study
supported the validity of the symptoms reported by the American
diplomats. However, they do not help answer the question of whether they
suffered actual brain injuries. A spokesman from the United States
Department of State told The Telegraph that the Department is “aware of the study and welcomes the medical community’s discussion of this incredibly complex issue”.
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