PCBs Alter Brain Development

摘要

Exposure to the non-coplanar polychlori-nated biphenyl PCB95 during gestation and nursing causes abnormal development of the auditory cortex in rats,affecting the brain's representation of what is heard,according to new research in the 1 May 2007 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Since children with autism and other developmental disorders show abnormal responses to sound,suspicions have been raised that PCB95 and similar molecules in the environment might promote this problem and perhaps other language/cognition disorders in children.