Disrupted Development of the Dominant Hemisphere Following Prenatal Irradiation

Abstract

One hundred children, exposed prenatally to radiation after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, and 50 nonexposed classmates were examined between the ages of 11 and 13 years old using neuropsychiatric tests, WISC, EEG, and visual evoked potentials. Individual prenatal radiation doses were reconstructed for all examined children. The exposed children were found to have more neuropsychiatric disorders, left-brain neurological signs, lower full-scale and verbal IQ, IQ discrepancies with verbal decrement, disorganized EEG patterns, an excess of lateralized-to-left frontotemporal region delta and beta power with depression of theta and alpha power, and interhemispheric inversion visual information processing. Mothers' mental health, stress, and prenatal irradiation contributed to these effects, along with several confounding factors.

Cerebral basis of posttraumatic stress disorder following the Chernobyl disaster

“…There is a necessity to develop and implement government-led mental health care systems for the survivors of radiation accidents and radiological terrorist attacks. It is strongly recommended that a system of emergency and long-term psychological and psychiatric care be organized immediately for the nuclear disaster survivors in Fukushima, Japan 24 , 26 – 34 …”

“…In the unique subgroup A of the patients with PTSD who had ARS, which included 16 persons (47%) with internationally nonconfirmed ARS (ARS-0) in 1991 and later; 6 people (18%) with the mild ARS (ARS-I) [according to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) Report to the General Assembly, 2000 (Annex J), 24 the external exposure to ionizing radiation of the whole body was less than 2.1 Gy]; 9 (26%) with moderate ARS or ARS-II (2.2–4.1 Gy), and 3 (9%) with severe ARS or ARS III (4.2–6.4 Gy). According to the assessments by the Institute of Biophysics (Moscow, Russian Federation), persons of subgroup A were exposed to ionizing radiation at the dose range of 0.1–7.1 Gy (M ± SD: 2.0 ± 1.9 Gy).…”

Selective reduction of neuron number and volume of the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus in macaques following irradiation at early gestational ages

“…Although fetal exposure to irradiation in this Japanese population has not been associated with an increase in schizophrenia or other neuropsychiatric disorders, it could be that atomic radioactivity which is more damaging to human tissues than x-rays, causes severe global brain impairment manifesting as mental retardation rather than mental illness. In contrast, the more recent prenatal exposure following the Chernobyl disaster has resulted in a wide range of neurologic disorders in children who were examined at 11–13 years of age (Loganovskaja and Loganovsky, 1999; Loganovsky et al, 2008). These prenatally exposed individuals exhibit decreased full and verbal IQ, disorganized EEG patterns and other signs of abnormal functioning of the left hemisphere.…”

Radiation-Induced Cerebro-Ophthalmic Effects in Humans

“…In our opinion, the decreased spectral θ-power, especially in the left fronto-temporal area, as well as the increase in spectral β-power lateralized to the left hemisphere might be also considered as qEEG markers of prenatal irradiation. Taken together, these abnormalities seem to suggest the left hemisphere is more sensitive to in-utero radiation exposure [26][27][28][29][30][31].…”