A new study from the National Institute of Health (NIH) found no evidence of injury or disease in the brains of U.S. government officials and military personnel who claim to experience symptoms such as ear pain, dizziness, ringing in the ears and depression that have been dubbed “Havana syndrome." Further, the study found no difference in brain function between the government employees who experience the mysterious symptoms and a control group. The complete findings are published in JAMA. [1]
In the phenomenon now being called “anomalous health incidents,” (AHIs) government employees stationed in Cuba were the first to report the idiopathic illness, said to be triggered by an odd sound. Recordings of that nefarious sound were recorded by the victims before a cluster of symptoms suddenly manifested. However, a now-declassified government investigation believes the noise to be chirping from literal crickets.
All the same, the symptoms are real, and explanations have been proposed by U.S. government and intelligence officials, ranging from a new type of wave-based weapon built by Russia to pesticide poisoning. To date, no one has found a definitive answer.
A controlled, direct comparison study on AHI found nothing
For this study, the NIH sought to examine the brains of 81 AHI sufferers, conducting MRI scans on the cohort and comparing the result to 48 matched control participants. MRI images were taken as soon as possible after reported symptoms from the sufferers, with a median delay period of 80 days. Adjusting for multiple comparisons, the researchers found no sign of lesions or reduced brain function in either cohort.
“In this exploratory neuroimaging study, there were no significant differences in imaging measures of brain structure or function between individuals reporting AHIs and matched control participants after adjustment for multiple comparisons,” the authors led by Carlo Pierpaoli, PHD, MD, from the NIH, wrote.
The study lasted 4 years, during which time follow-up scans were conducted to look for any anomalous brain activity that may be latent. However, the findings remained unchanged, with no evidence of brain connectivity issues or damage found in either study group.
“An important feature of this study was the longitudinal brain MRI scans, allowing evaluation of potential findings over time. This is especially important when there is a lack of predeployment brain MRI scans. Measurements across various MRI modalities were largely stable on the follow-up visits, even for participants with atypical values at initial scan, suggesting absence of evolving lesions. Lack of evolving lesions may indicate absence of an acute brain injury, since most injuries result in changes over time,” the authors wrote.
The small sample size limits the generalizability of the study findings, yet overcoming this challenge is difficult due to the unique nature of AHIs, which predominantly affect government officials and military personnel. The researchers noted the “variability in clinical presentation, timing and modalities of the AHIs, the uncertainties regarding mechanism, spatial extent, and regional distribution of the potential injury” complicates data analysis.
The full study can be read at the link below.
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