Are Pesticides at the Root of Cognitive Decline?
Philanthropy Ignites Innovation through MCV Campus Pilot Projects
Editors note: This story was originally published in the winter 2024-25 issue of 12th & Marshall, the alumni magazine for the VCU School of Medicine. View the current and past issues of this magazine online.
By Holly Prestidge
Are Pesticides at the Root of Cognitive Decline?
Farmers. Military veterans. Golf course employees. Airline workers.
Four very different workplaces, all linked by a shared health risk: exposure to chemicals that could elevate risks for cognitive decline.
Laxmikant S. Deshpande, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Neurology, is conducting research that dives into the similarities between chemical nerve agents and pesticides. Both contain chemicals called organophosphates that have the potential to impact memory functions, seizures, anxiety, depression and more.
Dr. Deshpande was awarded VCU Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center pilot grants in 2022 and again in 2023. The grants were funded through financial support from philanthropic donors that has made it possible for the PMDC to award nearly $500,000 in pilot grants since 2021. Dr. Deshpande’s research, which is also supported by the NIH CounterACT Program and the Department of Defense, looks at neurological effects of high-level organophosphate exposures over a short period of time, as well as sustained low-level exposure over long periods of time.
The generosity of our donors allows us to explore these novel ideas and work toward developing effective treatments that could directly impact the lives of civilians and military personnel alike.
Laxmikant S. Deshpande, Ph.D.
He explained that many people are exposed to these toxins through their occupations or the environment.
For example, farmers use pesticides for their crops, while golf course attendants do the same to keep greens pristine. Military personnel can be exposed through chemical warfare or pesticides used to sanitize living quarters overseas. Airline workers inhale organophosphates from jet fuel fumes. Exposure is not limited to these fields.
“There are many different ways we get exposed to pesticides or nerve agents,” Dr. Deshpande said. “That exposure changes the brain’s synaptic plasticity.”
Synaptic plasticity refers to the adaptive changes at the synapses — the junctions between which neurons communicate. When those connections are strong and active, memory function remains healthy.
The strength of that communication is vulnerable. And epigenetics — the study of how genes are affected by their environment — points to pesticides as a potential culprit.
In short, it’s all connected, Dr. Deshpande said. The genes of an individual exposed to pesticides or nerve agents could change, possibly reducing expression of factors essential for maturation of neuronal spines and synaptic proteins leading to synapse loss and compromising the brain’s synaptic plasticity.
That means increased risk for memory loss, seizures, suicidal thoughts, anxiety and other neurological deficiencies.
“Exposure to pesticides, be it occupationally or based on other environmental factors, has already been reported to produce long-term neurological effects,” said Dr. Deshpande, noting that people of color and migrant farm workers are the most at risk and have the least access to health care. His goal through the pilot project research is for his team to understand the mechanisms of organophosphate toxicities and identify therapeutics to reduce the risks of the cognitive decline and other neurological comorbidities, or even prevent it altogether.
“The generosity of our donors allows us to explore these novel ideas and work toward developing effective treatments that could directly impact the lives of civilians and military personnel alike,” Dr. Deshpande said. “It inspires us to strive for greater innovation and success, knowing we have a supportive community behind us.”