Cornell Lab of Brain Toxicology

Promoting human and environmental health through neuroscience.

The Kevin Cornell Laboratory at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is at the forefront of environmental-driven neurological diseases. Northern New England experiences some of the highest rates of brain cancers, Parkinson's Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), increasingly thought to be a consequence of long-standing environmental issues such as algae blooms, lead toxicity, pesticide contaminations, trichloroethylene, and more. ALS is a fatal and untreatable motor neuron disease with clusters of cases located throughout northern New England. As an integral part of the ALS Research Center, the Cornell Lab works closely with ALS patients on collecting samples and studying environmental causes of the disease, with hopes to find new biomarkers and therapeutics to treat the disease and educate the public on the risks of toxic exposures. 

Brain health is everything. It is the centerpiece of how we experience and interact with the world. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring introduced the concept of the ecology of the human body, showing us that our bodies are not boundaries, but interconnected with the health of our surroundings. Ultimately, human health would reflect environmental health, as shown by our vulnerabilities to global pesticide use.

Sixty years later, our understanding of environmental health, neuroscience, and immunology has grown. Not only do we know the consequences of many environmental toxicants to our health, but we know that our health can reversely impact the environment. Chronic stress, fear, anxiety, depression–among other neurological ailments–are signs of unhealthy brains, partially driven by negative experiences and perseverance, but also developmental malfunctions of our brains due to environmental toxicants. Many of these anatomical and biochemical brain abnormalities can drive behaviors such as consumption, polluting, narcissism, and callousness. A healthy brain is empathetic, trusting, and peaceful. Our environmental health relies on our brain health, our brain health relies on our environment.

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