| "People suffering "Gulf War syndrome" have a 5% reduction in brain size, a small study suggests." "The anatomical differences between veterans of the first Gulf War in 1991 who report multiple health problems � such as fatigue, skin rash and nausea � and other healthier colleagues, were revealed during brain scans." "Those with symptoms of the controversially named Gulf War syndrome (GWS) have 5% less cortical brain matter than healthier counterparts. The researchers say that the finding provides hard biological evidence to support claims that some veterans of the war suffered real neurological damage, perhaps as a result of nerve gas or other toxins." "Roberta White of the Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts, US, and colleagues studied 18 Gulf War veterans who reported more than five health problems such as joint pain, fatigue, skin rash, headaches and nausea." "The researchers conducted brain scans on these subjects � using magnetic resonance imaging technology � as well as 18 control counterparts, who served in the same war but reported only a few of the symptoms." "The scans revealed that the overall brain cortex of the veterans with GWS was about 5% smaller on average than that of the healthier veterans. The cortex includes the outermost and top layer of the brain, including the grey matter, and controls complex functions such as language." "It also includes a specific part of the brain thought to be involved in memory processing and learning, known as the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus, which was about 6% smaller in the ill veterans, on average." "Subjects were also asked to complete a cognitive test that involved memorising a list of 16 words and recalling those words 20 minutes later. Veterans with GWS performed about 15% worse in the test than the healthier control group." ""I think these findings are really important," says White, who presented the results at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Boston this week." "She says that when you combine these findings with others, such as the greater incidence of brain tumours and movement disorders such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) among those deployed in the war, "it's pretty clear that something has happened to central nervous system function and structure of Gulf War veterans and that we're just getting to the point where were finally seeing what these effects were."" "White's team hopes to review information
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