Study reports on the symptoms experienced by US Government Personnel, in Cuba, following a reported auditory stimulus

Authored By:

Swanson, R. L., 2nd, Hampton, S., Green-McKenzie, J., Diaz-Arrastia, R., Grady, M. S., Verma, R., Biester, R., Duda, D., Wolf, R. L., & Smith, D. H.

Summary:

This study is a retrospective case series of staff from the US government embassy in Havana, Cuba, who reported experiencing an auditory stimulus that was associated with the onset of various health effects. The stimulus reported by the staff had differing physical characteristics such as high (n=18) or low (n=2) pitch and pressure (n=9) or vibrations (n=3). Of the 24 individuals with suspected exposure, 21 were evaluated 203 days after the reported exposure. The persistent symptoms reported by these individuals were highly variable and included cognitive (n=17), balance (n=15) and visual (n=18) effects, and auditory dysfunction (n=15), sleep impairment (n=18) and headaches (n=15). Different individuals reported various combinations of these health effects. MRI neuroimaging was conducted for the 21 individuals and only three showed changes outside of the normal range. Of these three cases, the authors mention that the changes observed could possibly be attributed to other pre-existing conditions or risk factors.

Link to:

Neurological Manifestations Among US Government Personnel Reporting Directional Audible and Sensory Phenomena in Havana, Cuba

Published In:

JAMA 2018

Commentary by ARPANSA:

It is not known how an auditory stimulus or any other exposure, including radio waves, could cause the health symptoms that US government personnel reported. Neither sound in the auditory range or exposure to radio waves is associated with any of the reported symptoms. Further, ARPANSA is not aware of how any other type of radiation exposure could cause the reported symptoms. As discussed by Swanson et al. (2018) the symptoms could possibly be due to a collective delusional disorder, such as a type of mass psychogenic illness. However, Swanson et al. (2018) states there is little evidence for this, and other occurrences of mass psychogenic illness don’t usually result in persistent symptoms. However, a report by Bartholomew et al. (2018) suggests a mass psychogenic illness is the most likely cause and that such occurrences have been reported before. Bartholomew et al. (2018) further suggests that the sound that was perceived was likely just the normal sounds of the city and was conflated with the reported symptoms.