Experimental and Mathematical Modeling of Borderline Changes in the Brain under Radiation Exposure

Abstract

In model experiments on rats irradiated in doses and exposure regimes comparable to those in the liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, changes in neurons of various parts of the brain were studied depending on the dose of Y-irradiation and the dose rate of exposure. It was established that throughout the experiment, both in control and irradiated animals, undulating changes were observed in various neuromorphological parameters of nerve cells with stochastic extrema in separate dose-time intervals. In a number of cases, the changes were of a borderline nature, when they were no longer the norm and at the same time were not yet a pathology. Although the level of significance of such changes fluctuated in relation to the age control within functionally insignificant limits, their presence testified to the instability of the structural and functional organization of nerve cells and the intensity of functioning. At the same time, γ- irradiation had a grea-ter influence on the change in most indicators of the state of neurons than the time of the recovery period, which indicated a rather high response of nerve cells to radiation exposure. Over time, changes in nerve cells were repaired and their parameters corresponded to the age control. It should be assumed that with an increase in the dose or dose rate of radiation exposure, as well as against the background of other harmful and dangerous factors associated with radiation accidents, changes in neurons will become more unidirectional.