“A study that assessed the brains of 99 World Trade Center (WTC) responders by using diffusion tractography, a 3-D imaging technique [using a combined MRI and PET scanner], showed that WTC responders with cognitive impairment (CI), a possible sign of dementia, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have a different presentation of the white matter in their brains compared to responders with CI without PTSD. Led by researchers at Stony Brook University affiliated with the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Program, the study suggests a specific form of dementia could be affecting WTC responders who also have PTSD. …
According to the authors … ‘Overall, the study supports the view that responders with CI have neurological changes consistent with neurodegenerative disease, but they are inconclusive as to the type of disease … Our findings do show that dementia due to PTSD is clearly different from non-PTSD dementia in this responder population.'”
– Emily Henderson, “Study Provides Evidence of New Form of Dementia Affecting WTC Responders,” news-medical.net, August 23, 2022