HIV directly affects the brain, Stellenbosch researchers discover
HIV directly affects the brain in the early stages of the infection‚ Stellenbosch University researchers have discovered.It has long been known that many people with HIV experience cognitive symptoms such as depression and forgetfulness, but it was unclear whether they were caused by the patients’ physical illness‚ or whether HIV had a direct effect on the brain."Our research shows that HIV does have an impact on the brain and that these low-grade cognitive symptoms are likely not just function loss due to patients feeling sick‚ tired or depressed‚" said Dr Stéfan du Plessis‚ lead author of a series of articles about the research published in "AIDS" and other international journals.Using functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) — a scan that shows how blood flows to certain parts of the brain when a person performs certain tasks or experiences certain emotions — Du Plessis and his team compared the brain activity of people with HIV to those without HIV.They found that HIV-positi...
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