cribble
22nd May 2001, 02:57
The following Reuters report, while posted under a trashy "Femalw aircrew: smaller brains, bigger memory loss" headline in a local NZ rag, bears looking at:
" WASHINGTON Chronic jet lag causes a part of the brain to shrink and impairs mental functions,including memory, say researchers.
The study compared the size of the brain’s temporal lobes of two groups of flight attendants who had different amounts of time to recover from jet lag. Using MRI scans, researchers found the group who had less time between flights had smaller right temporal lobes.
The findings appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience."I found there was no deficit of language, but certain short-term objective memory and very simple
abstract cognition was quite bad,” said study author Dr Kwangwook Cho of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Bristol in England.
Jet lag is a condition suffered by many people who travel over time zones and is characterised by fatigue, disorientation and disrupted sleep.
The sample group was 20 women, ages 22 to 28, who had five-year careers with international airlines and flew across at least seven time zones. Women appear to suffer more acute jet lag than men, Cho
said, explaining why he left men out of the sample group. The right temporal lobe is involved in visual recognition and spatial memory. The left is responsible for language. The study measured short-term
memory and cognition, both functions of the right temporal lobe, and found significant deficits.
Cognition tests involved understanding and differentiating between simple symbols, such as the design of the United States flag or the British flag. To measure memory, the women were asked to recall the location of dots on a computer screen after 20- to 50-minute intervals.
The findings could have broad implications for more than just flight attendants and other airline workers.
Shift workers and parents of young children also experience disruptions in their circadian rhythms—the cycle of waking and sleeping and of lightness and darkness. “The implication [of the study] is that rapid circadian shifts have a damaging effect on the brain,” said Dr Robert Sack of the Sleep Dis orders Medicine Clinic at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. “It’s interesting because we think
of jet lag as a kind of a nuisance but this study would suggest that it may have more serious consequences,” Sack said.
Further research needs to be conducted to determine how long the atrophy of this part of the brain lasts, Cho said, saying a follow-up examination after the women involved in the study retire is necessary.
In previous studies, Cho had found a link between chronic jet lag and high cortisol levels. Cortisol, measured in saliva samples, is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. The hormone rises in the morning and drops in the evening, in accordance with normal sleep patterns. It also rises in times of stress, such as an argument.
Cho and his colleagues found evidence that people who had been subjected to repeat jet lag had higher levels of cortisol and impaired cognitive abilities. Higher cortisol levels were correlated with a greater reduction in temporal lobe volume.
The results are consistent with previous studies showing that high cortisol levels, such as those linked to severe depression and posttraumatic stress syndrome, are also linked to a smaller temporal lobe and memory impairment. — REUTERS"
" WASHINGTON Chronic jet lag causes a part of the brain to shrink and impairs mental functions,including memory, say researchers.
The study compared the size of the brain’s temporal lobes of two groups of flight attendants who had different amounts of time to recover from jet lag. Using MRI scans, researchers found the group who had less time between flights had smaller right temporal lobes.
The findings appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience."I found there was no deficit of language, but certain short-term objective memory and very simple
abstract cognition was quite bad,” said study author Dr Kwangwook Cho of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Bristol in England.
Jet lag is a condition suffered by many people who travel over time zones and is characterised by fatigue, disorientation and disrupted sleep.
The sample group was 20 women, ages 22 to 28, who had five-year careers with international airlines and flew across at least seven time zones. Women appear to suffer more acute jet lag than men, Cho
said, explaining why he left men out of the sample group. The right temporal lobe is involved in visual recognition and spatial memory. The left is responsible for language. The study measured short-term
memory and cognition, both functions of the right temporal lobe, and found significant deficits.
Cognition tests involved understanding and differentiating between simple symbols, such as the design of the United States flag or the British flag. To measure memory, the women were asked to recall the location of dots on a computer screen after 20- to 50-minute intervals.
The findings could have broad implications for more than just flight attendants and other airline workers.
Shift workers and parents of young children also experience disruptions in their circadian rhythms—the cycle of waking and sleeping and of lightness and darkness. “The implication [of the study] is that rapid circadian shifts have a damaging effect on the brain,” said Dr Robert Sack of the Sleep Dis orders Medicine Clinic at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. “It’s interesting because we think
of jet lag as a kind of a nuisance but this study would suggest that it may have more serious consequences,” Sack said.
Further research needs to be conducted to determine how long the atrophy of this part of the brain lasts, Cho said, saying a follow-up examination after the women involved in the study retire is necessary.
In previous studies, Cho had found a link between chronic jet lag and high cortisol levels. Cortisol, measured in saliva samples, is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. The hormone rises in the morning and drops in the evening, in accordance with normal sleep patterns. It also rises in times of stress, such as an argument.
Cho and his colleagues found evidence that people who had been subjected to repeat jet lag had higher levels of cortisol and impaired cognitive abilities. Higher cortisol levels were correlated with a greater reduction in temporal lobe volume.
The results are consistent with previous studies showing that high cortisol levels, such as those linked to severe depression and posttraumatic stress syndrome, are also linked to a smaller temporal lobe and memory impairment. — REUTERS"