Furthermore 'ATCV-1 exposure in mice also resulted in the altered expression of genes within the hippocampus. These genes comprised pathways related to synaptic plasticity, learning, memory formation, and the immune response to viral exposure.'
So it seems like they have opened up multiple avenues of scientific inquiry - this strikes me as a much stronger result than presented in the Newsweek article. Assuming for the sake of argument that their speculation is correct, it's a rather frightening thought that some ~40% of the population could be suffering a significant virally-induced cognitive impairment. Also, I wonder if elimination of this virus could result in an improvement in cognitive and immune function.
The economic and public health implications of this research are potentially quite significant.
That 40% likely applies fairly specifically geographically-speaking. There are other pathologies that degrade cognitive ability which are almost omni-present in developing nations. Hookworm, for instance, causes permanent IQ loss in children who are infected with it and it is nearly universal in Africa and many other places with inferior sanitation. The American US south had a big hookworm problem in the past, but intentional steps were taken to eliminate hookworm. The result was climbing average IQ scores across the south for nearly a century. Malaria also causes cognitive problems, not the least of which is causing missed school in children. Malaria, obviously, sees an awful lot of attention paid to it, but hookworm is not nearly as popular. If I could choose something to focus on, hookworm would probably come even before malaria in my mind. The negative cognitive effects of hookworm hamper everything that can be done to fight malaria and other things, preventing people from realizing how important hygeine and the like is.
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/45/16106.abstract
So it seems like they have opened up multiple avenues of scientific inquiry - this strikes me as a much stronger result than presented in the Newsweek article. Assuming for the sake of argument that their speculation is correct, it's a rather frightening thought that some ~40% of the population could be suffering a significant virally-induced cognitive impairment. Also, I wonder if elimination of this virus could result in an improvement in cognitive and immune function.
The economic and public health implications of this research are potentially quite significant.