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Memory impairment exhibited by veterans with Gulf War Illness
Timothy N Odegard1, Crystal M Cooper, Emily A Farris
1Department of Psychology, University Texas Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0528, USA. odegard@uta.edu
Neurocase
|April 24, 2012
Summary
Gulf War veterans with chronic health problems exhibit memory deficits. Functional MRI revealed lower hippocampal activation and poorer performance on a face-name memory task in ill veterans compared to healthy ones.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Veterans Health
Background:
- A significant percentage of Gulf War veterans (26-32%) report chronic health issues.
- Memory deficits are a commonly reported symptom among ill Gulf War veterans.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature of memory deficits in ill Gulf War veterans (GWV).
- To objectively measure memory performance and associated neural activity using fMRI.
Main Methods:
- A face-name associative memory task was administered to ill and unaffected Gulf War veterans.
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor brain activity during the memory task.
- Memory performance was correlated with hippocampal activation levels.
Main Results:
- Ill Gulf War veterans showed decreased memory performance compared to unaffected veterans.
- Memory task performance was directly related to activation in the left hippocampus.
- fMRI data provided objective evidence of memory impairments.
Conclusions:
- Ill Gulf War veterans experience measurable memory deficits.
- Reduced left hippocampal activation is associated with memory impairments in this population.
- These findings highlight the neurological impact of Gulf War illness on cognitive function.
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