Set of cognitive impairments in patients with technogenic vibration syndrome

Among the many symptoms accompanying vibration disease (whole-body vibration, WBV effect), cognitive and memory dysfunction is particularly important because of its association with an increased risk of severe dementia. The energy from technogenic oscillatory (vibrational) exposure induces multistage phase transitions of albumins, conformational changes of synaptic proteins, active zones of synapses, and alterations in the density and sensitivity of glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, and cholinergic receptors. Uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial de-energization, activation of nitric oxide synthases, hypercalcemia, elements of glutamate excitotoxicity, disturbances in the levels of neurotransmitters (5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid), and imbalance in the system of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines disrupt the mechanisms of generation and conduction of nerve impulses, promote neuronal degeneration, increase the permeability of the blood–brain barrier, and often irreversibly transform the functioning of integrative neural networks. A generalized analysis of the neuropsychological testing, measures of direct current potential and slow-wave rhythm power, electroencephalography, and topographic mapping of brain electrical activity indicates the involvement of the frontal, inferior temporal, and inferior parietal lobes, the parieto–temporo–occipital region of the left hemisphere, as well as subcortical structures, including the hippocampus and corpus callosum, in the formation of cognitive dysfunction in patients with vibration disease. The data presented in this review indicate the need for active detection of cognitive impairment in individuals exposed to vibration and the implementation of neuroprotective therapy. It is possible that the greatest importance in protecting the brain from the destructive effects of vibrational energy may belong to regulatory peptides and peptide-based pharmacological agents possessing a synactonic mechanism of action, exerting multiple effects on intermolecular processes, transcriptional regulation, and the integration of the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems into a unified functional continuum, thereby restoring higher brain functions.