If mice commuted, their brains might find it progressively harder to navigate the maze of Los Angeles freeways. A new study reveals that after short-term exposure to vehicle pollution, mice showed significant brain damage -- including signs associated with memory loss and Alzheimer's disease.
The authors found a way to recreate air laden with freeway particulate matter inside the laboratory. Whether in a test tube or in live mice, brain cells showed similar responses:
- Neurons involved in learning and memory showed significant damage,
- The brain showed signs of inflammation associated with premature aging and Alzheimer's disease,
- Neurons from developing mice did not grow as well.
The freeway particles measured between a few dozen to 200 nanometers -- roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and too small for car filtration systems to trap.
----------D - maybe we will find that our transportation is an important contributor to old age dementia?
So does a sedan for every home still look 'cheap'?
Aside - I drive a subcompact car to work, and hope to start bicycling some soon.
I hypermile and drive like a granny - other than going 10kph over the speed limit.
LOL and better not go any slower or I'd cause road rage.
I ponder that the few bad 'indy 500' drivers pay less for gas than I do.
Otherwise, they'd just be plain foolish.
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