Review of Neurophysiologic and Psychologic 

 Research on Irradiation Injury in the U.S.S.R.* 



Walter R. Stahl 



Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon, and 

 University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon 



One often hears the statement, "Using conditioned reflex techniques, 

 Soviet scientists have found the central nervous system to be very sensitive to 

 ionizing radiation." The goal of this analysis is to demonstrate that such a 

 statement is an oversimplification ; it requires considerable elaboration before 

 a clear interpretation of the implied claim is possible. 



Most of the illustrations to be cited are drawn from the Soviet radiobio- 

 logic literature and cover materials through August, 1960. An extensive 

 bibliography has already been presented in two recent review papers (Stahl, 

 1959, 1960). However, several sources for the scientist who does not read 

 Russian have been cited, such as reports for the United Nations Scientific 

 Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiations (Brazier, 1959; Bykov, 

 1957; Gubin and Moskalev, 1960; Livanov and Kondrat'yev, 1960; Pavlov, 

 1959). 



This review attempts to distinguish several fundamentally difTerent nerv- 

 ous system reactions which may take place after irradiation. These include 

 (1) minor damage to neurons, not inconsistent with the phenomenon of 

 "radiation aging," (2) specific or selective damage to the central nervous 

 system (CNS) causing loss of particular ner\e functions, (3) perception of 

 radiation by the CNS without any pathologic consequences, (4) abnormal 

 CNS functioning, resulting from radiation, which causes or contributes to 

 radiation sickness, (5) somatic mechanisms which alter the response in a 

 test of CNS activity in a misleading manner, and (6) certain general reac- 

 tions, such as alterations in levels of circulating biochemical mediators 

 which result in altered nerve functioning. 



In addition, it is always necessary to bear in mind the age, species, and 

 sex of experimental animals, the size of the radiation dose, whether radia- 

 tion sickness actually developed, how long after exposure the CNS test was 

 done, possible disturbances in the general state of the animals, such as 

 change in appetite and normal motor activity, and validity of the result, 

 statistically. 



* This paper was presented at a dinner meeting between the third and fourth 

 sessions. 



469 



