NEW YORK — U.S. scientists released a new finding that shows in addition to causing brain abnormalities in developing fetuses, the Zika virus may also damage in adult brain cells.

“This is the first study looking at the effect of Zika infection on the adult brain,” Joseph Gleeson, adjunct professor at the Rockefeller University and head of the Laboratory of Pediatric Brain Disease said in a press release. “Based on our findings, getting infected with Zika as an adult may not be as innocuous as people think.”
Human brains comprised entirely of neural progenitor cells, which eventually become fully formed neurons after entering adulthood. Scientists found out the cells were particularly vulnerable to Zika virus.

In an experiment using mice to mimic the effect of Zika infections in humans, the virus attacked neural progenitor cells, which exist primarily in the subventricular zone of the anterior forebrain and subgranular zone of the hippocampus in mice. The two zones are vital for learning and memory. The loss of these cells would subsequently lead to the reduction in brain volume.

The study was conducted by the Rockefeller University and La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology and published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.