War Effects on Veterans Resulted in Change in Brain and Memory Loss

Many veterans of gulf war suffer from memory loss and scientists after research have attributed the syndrome to change in brain. The symptom is also called Gulf War illness. Researchers also believe that the effects could be results of impacts of neurotoxic chemicals and also exposure to harmful gaseous elements during the war. "More than 250,000 troops, or approximately 25% of those deployed during the first Persian Gulf War, have been diagnosed with Gulf War Illness (GWI). Although medical professionals have recognized the chronic and often disabling illness for almost two decades, brain changes that uniquely identify GWI have been elusive until now," explained Bart Rypma of Texas University and principal investigator of the research. Novelty of the research work and its findings are traced in the fact that it confirms reduction in the working memories of GWI and threw lights on the reasons for such occurrences. Assessing the basic aspects of the working memory that included accuracy, competence, and speed, the researchers came into the conclusion that these aspects were visibly lower in Gulf War veterans.