Friday, October 31, 2014

Is a plant virus making us dumber?


Wow, has a plant virus jumped species and slowing our cognitive abilities? They found this virus in 40% of the people they tested--eep!


Six weeks later, the group of mice with ATCV-1 took about 10% longer to navigate a maze, and they also spent about 20% less time exploring new environments.
The infected mice also showed more than 1,000 gene changes in the parts of the brain that are usually considered essential for memory and learning. The researchers could observe these gene changes in mice because they analyzed the mice before and after they were infected with the virus. This shows some of the effects the virus could have on people, but we don't know that humans would show the same changes — and it would be unethical to conduct the same experiment on people.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/algae-virus-may-be-changing-cognitive-ability-2014-10#ixzz3HkjU2YkK


Can't help wondering if CLIMATE CHANGE has something to do with this.




read more here.

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