The bizarre saga surrounding what officials have allege was an attack on U.S. diplomatic stave in Cuba using a“covert sonic equipment”has continued to get weirder , with the first comprehensive medical work of the affected personnel department revealing that they indeed suffered symptoms resembling the outcome of traumatic brain injuries that doctors but can not excuse .
Per CNN , a Wednesdayreport in aesculapian daybook JAMAon “ neurological expression ” among staff who reported “ directional audible and sensory phenomena ” while serving at the U.S. embassy in Cuba has left Dr. “ wonder whether this pattern of symptoms can occur in a antecedently unobserved way , without read/write head trauma . ”
In anaccompanying report , paper co - writer Dr. Randell Swanson save that “ If you took any one of these patient role and put them into a brain injury clinic , and you did n’t know their background , you would think that they had a traumatic brain injury from being in a car accident or a blast in the military machine . It ’s like a concussion without a concussion . ”
Ten hands and 11 women were admit in the story , which report the impaired individuals experiencing a number of troubling phenomena in Cuba :
unnatural individuals key the sound as directive , intensely loud , and with consummate and free burning key . Of the patients , high - pitch auditory sensation was report by 16 ( 76 % ) , although 2 ( 10 % ) note a low - pitched phone . watchword used to describe the sound include “ buzzing , ” “ grind metallic element , ” “ pierce squeals , ” and “ thrum . ”
The sound were often associated with pressurelike ( n = 9 , 43 % ) or vibratory ( n = 3 , 14 % ) sensory stimuli , which were also experienced by 2 of the 3 affected role who did not hear a auditory sensation . The sensory stimuli were likened to broadcast “ baffle ” inside a moving car with the window partially rolled down .
According to the report , the personnel describe feeling the sensation come from a specific direction , though it is much impossible at this clock time to mold the dose and duration of the exposure “ because of the limitations of patient callback ” and conflicting chronicle .
All but one of the mortal in the subject field “ report immediate oncoming of neurological symptoms ” when exposed to the mysterious stimuli , with pertinacious ( over three calendar month ) symptoms noted in a majority of the personnel . They included cognitive , balance , visual , and auditive dysfunction , sleep impairment , and worry ( sometimes so stern they need intervention ) . Some staff need audition aids , though it ’s unclear whether that could be the final result of normal aging .
Perhaps most perplexing , fellow study author Dr. Douglas Smith told CNN they did not believe the mysterious audio were actually responsible for for the symptoms but that “ the audible sound was a consequence of the exposure . ” In the go with report , Smith mentioned that brain terms can indeed be get by “ ultrasound , infrasound , and microwaves”—though asGizmodo previously reportedand the authors mark , it would be much unsufferable to inflict this kind of equipment casualty using supersonic or infrasonic methods covertly .
What ’s more , MRI neuroimaging returned no immediately relevant results . In the second report , experts were noncommittal to the estimation the faculty were exposed to chemicals or pathogens , citing a want of grounds . They were likewise noncommittal towidespread hypothesesthe staff fell victim to mass psychogenic illness — a term for the poorly understood phenomenon sometimes called“mass hysteria or epidemic hysteria”—as some of the individuals had no thought others were exhibiting symptoms .
In other parole , the medico have no idea what the nether region is go on , though all of the participants reported betterment in symptoms since leave Cuba and further neurologic examination is contrive .
AsCNN noted , the Cuban government strenuously denies any interest in the attempt , but some fellow member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee include Sens . Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez are question whether that ’s credible . Rubio in particular told CNN that the musical theme anyone could conduct such an attack in Havana without attracting the attention of Cuban certificate and intelligence agencies was “ outside the realm of reasonable”—though for month , Rubio has been far quicker toidentify potential perpetratorsthan doctors have been capable to identify what really may have happened , and recent improvements in U.S.-Cuban relationshave rapidly crumbled .
[ CNN ]
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