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PCBs alter key brain chemical that stops nerve-to-nerve signals
New cell research fine tunes our understanding of how PCBs affect brain function–the compounds enhance the signal of an important brain chemical that normally squelches nerve messages.
Certain types of PCBs can affect the way a brain chemical responsible for halting brain signals sends its chemical messages from nerve to nerve, according to research conducted on frog egg cells. These results further tease apart PCBs' complex effects on brain chemicals and better explain how these interactions can result in abnormal brain function.
PCBs are known to affect behavior, memory and learning in animals and people. Exactly how they do this still eludes researchers, although the persistent contaminants have been shown to affect several key cell chemical pathways that are essential for normal brain activity. Prior studies have focused on how PCBs interfere with the brain chemicals that allow the brain's nerve cells–called neurons–to communicate.