Low-Dose Radiation-Induced Effects on Cognitive Function

Abstract

The relation between the low-dose radiation and the cognitive decline remains limited and controversial. However, the increasing use of high-dose radiation for medical purposes and some historical radiation-related accidents indicated that the low-dose radiation reduced cognitive ability, suggesting the reconsideration of the central nervous system’s low sensitivity to radiation, which has been advocated by conventional radiation biology. Although the continuous stimulation of low-dose radiation is known to be an environmental stressor that causes a critical decline in cognition during space exploration, the overall mechanisms from radiation exposure to cognitive alteration is still lacking. One of its main reasons is the inconsistent empirical results, and there are various possibilities to cause the contradictory consequences, such as the hormesis effect of low-dose radiation, the cellular adaptive responses, the radiation resistance, the bystander effects, and the genomic instability. In this review, we survey the low-dose radiation-induced cognitive studies, targeting learning achievement, emotional changes as well as fundamental cognitive behaviors in both humans and animals. Also, some relevant molecular studies are reappraised to understand the low-dose radiation-induced effects on the cognitive function.

Keywords

• radiation
• radiation exposure
• cognition
• molecular biology