Studies Link Lead to Adult Crime, Brain Damage

by Maggie Fox
Exposure to lead in early childhood or in the womb can cause permanent brain damage that may even cause criminal behavior, researchers reported on Tuesday.
Two studies showed that people with high levels of lead in childhood grew up with blocks of missing brain cells -- and they also were far more likely to be arrested for crimes, especially violent crimes.
MISSING BRAIN CELLS
His colleague Dr. Kim Cecil of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center did magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI scans, of the brains of their volunteers.
They found more than 1 percent of total gray matter in the brain was missing. "The most affected regions included frontal gray matter, specifically the anterior cingulate cortex," Cecil's team wrote in a second study. This region is responsible for mood regulation and decision-making.
Men were far more affected than women.
"Our findings also suggest that this structural change is permanent," they wrote.
The implications are profound, Dietrich said. "Usually the effects of lead poisoning are irreversible," he said.

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